Sorry it didn’t work out, @buuzn03 .
Hugs @buuzn03.
So…we were talking to DS last night and about 3 minutes before check-in we are saying our good-byes and he says his mind is focused on coming home. WITW does that mean? Of course, I only had time to say…‘make sure your mind is also on finishing the year out strong’, while my husband said simultaneously ‘will your mind be focused on going back in September’. Has anyone else experienced this near year end slump? Should I be worried? He just got over being sick and I know he’s run down due to that, three tests this week and the rigors of crew. But I won’t get a chance to really talk to him until tomorrow due to classes, regatta and evening community activities for school today. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive because I’m stressed and tired. Thoughts?
@buuzn03 , I’d have interpreted that as “I am thinking about being home for the summer. The year is at the point where it’s feeling ready to end.” Remember that at a BS, they are living with seniors who are now finishing with college decisions. Juniors are preparing to take on key roles. The end if the year is not simply a light at the end of the tunnel, but the whole vista at the other end. And he probably misses y’all!
Thanks @gardenstategal ! I think We are probably overly sensitive right now because of the financial situation and he’s never said anything like that before…many of his closest friends are seniors, too, so you make a very good point about that having an influence.
DD has mentioned a few times she is looking forward to coming home, but she has also made it clear she is looking forward to going back in the fall. She misses her friends here a lot, and the freedoms that come with being at home - her campus isn’t really near anything so they only go into town on weekends. Over spring break, seriously, she was walking around town with her friends daily.
Sounds completely normal from our perspective. As much as they want to be there, they enjoy having true down time with their families as well. 
It’s been a long year, and now he’s looking forward to coming home for the summer. I don’t think it’s anything more than that. He’s probably sick of the food, sick of the work, and sick of homework, and sick of his friends…and just plain sick. Needs some time at home to recharge.
Thanks, everyone! I guess it’s just magnified when they’re so far away…I’m certain it happened at home but it didn’t phase me because he was here and living his normal day to day life. Plus, school ends here in mid-May so I bet his school “clock” is ticking. Lol. Again, thank you for the reassurance-I know right now I’m hypersensitive!
He’s a junior? That’s a tough year. Plus if he’s in New England, we’ve had a crappy, cold, snowy/rainy spring which doesn’t help. I wouldn’t worry too much because it sounds normal but if it was my kid, I’d want to ask more questions and probe a bit. As I often remind my kids, you can’t spell smother without mother. 
I think asking and listening is well within a parent’s perview.
@doschicos he’s a freshman. And he’s never been through a New England winter/spring. I do know he’s tired of the weather. And he misses the sun—which we pretty much have a minimum of 11 hours of year round. But we should be able to talk with him tomorrow. Hopefully, he’s in a better mindset—of course a disappointing regatta today probably didn’t help. :-/
@buuzn03: I agree with @preppedparent. We haven’t had spring yet – it snowed 2 nights ago here, again. And in my experience, they start to feel like “I’m so done with this year” right around mid-April. Go watch a comedy and have a martini.
PS – It does get better! And the years get shorter (though the tuition cost doesn’t seem to lessen). My kid will be done with her first college year in 6 days! 
@buuzn03, as another freshman parent, we have seen DS go through a lot of ups and downs, and since he is lucky to be pretty close to home (90) minutes, he can come home for a break and recharge frequently. For kids who are farther away and don’t have that flexibility, I think it’s a real grind, especially when you throw in the particularly long and awful winter, being sick, etc. DS had a rough winter and is currently having some frustration with his spring sport, and then he was really sick for the past week and had to miss a big academic opportunity. Wednesday night (while FTing to tell me he was throwing up and couldn’t go on his trip Thursday), he said “I just want to come home…I don’t want to be here right now.” He came home for overnight last night, but of course by Thursday afternoon he was already feeling much more like himself. I think the kids are working hard, exhausted, and dealing with a lot of things on a daily basis. I think it’s just a lot.
I was also talking with some parents of older kids a few weekends ago and they were saying how the winter is really hard all around. Cold, dark, the kids are pretty cooped up, and their class schedule is different. At Salisbury, it was still snowing last Thursday. I don’t think Boston is much different. It can really get to you. At least things are starting to bloom, so it is concurrently freezing and allergy season.
I think that the next 8 (!) weeks or so are going to fly by. Freshman year will soon be a rosy memory. I know you are dealing with the money issue also, but I hope your kiddo gets out of his funk and has a good spring!
@buuzn03 Sending hugs- we have seen similar patterns in both of our girls this time of year. Chimneykid2 got hit in the eye with a softball yesterday which caused a migraine and kind of capped a week or two of similarly trying moments. Today is is FINALLy spring-ish here in the Hudson Valley and I promise once the frisbees and the shorts come out of the closets, things improve rather miraculously. We are entering the home stretch!
Oh no…hugs to chimneykid! It’s so hard when things like that happen and mommas are so far away!!
Buuznkid finally listened to me and had a pizza delivered, downloaded a movie and then went to bed last night. I hope when we talk to him today he’s in better spirits!
We had a long talk with ChoatieSgt last night, and he’s feeling the same way. Sooooo ready for his year to end. This is nothing unusual, @buuzn03. It might even be a bit worse for kids used to perennial sunshine.
The sun is out today. I know when the weather gets nice at Choate, spirits lift. Everyone starts running and playing soccer and do the room lottery for next year, all signs this current school year is coming to an end and everyone is moving on.
Joining the chorus of gloom, with a kid who has been in a cast for 3 weeks now (one more to go), not being able to play sports, and sick like a dog with upper respiratory crud. Same prescription: Chinese take out and sleep.
Pretty much the same here @GoatMama — tendonitis (no rowing) plus antibiotics for out of control coughing and lung crud. 
No way I’d use the Like button for that, @AppleNotFar. Injuries are tough on kids.