<p>I know S was home for 3 weeks but it sure doesn't seem that way!</p>
<p>Any others feel the same way?</p>
<p>Any parents been through this and have suggestions for making a college kid on break more accessible to his/her parents?</p>
<p>Only because we were in a plane for a long time. have spoken to her for a total of 10 minutes in the last week, since we got back. i look at it as a preview to what is coming in a few months as empty nesters. glad i am not the only one - was starting to think it was all because of me</p>
<p>We spent winter break on an island in Florida that is accessible only by boat. D doesn’t have a boat. We saw a lot of her.</p>
<p>^^ Love that.</p>
<p>D is still here since they have Jan. term at her school. I’ve hosted her friends at my house and had a couple other events with other families. She’s kind of a home-body like me. Even though she has her driver’s license, she has never taken the car out on her own, so she is pretty much sticking with us. I can’t say that it’s all about being with her dad and me. She missed her sister a LOT and they have been spending a lot of time together. She also has a job that requires the use of our Mac Pro computer. ;)</p>
<p>I didn’t spend a lot of time at home while I was in college since I worked every summer at a camp. I think I also spent 2 breaks away visiting extended family or friends. It didn’t mean I didn’t love my family. :)</p>
<p>We took our to NYC for the week between XMas and New Years - so I guess we were “stranded” on an island, too, beth’s mom! We expect it will be the last time we are all together for a long while…:(.</p>
<p>S1 has been in and out. His college is only 50 miles away and he has a car now so he can come in for things like his brother’s wrestling tournaments, etc. I actually saw him this morning when I dropped my new-to-me car off at the dealer for some detailing. He drove me to work and will take me to get the other vehicle later.</p>
<p>S was home for only two weeks and now he is in Puerto Rico with his swim team. He keeps texting pictures. He’s had highs of 84 degrees everyday while we deal with the polar vortex. I feel your pain. </p>
<p>His school actually has a “freshman parent newsletter” that they send to us. The lead article warned that we wouldn’t see them much. It said something about new found independence. Yada Yada. </p>
<p>I wish he was six again.</p>
<p>We saw more of both of them when we visited S at his place in Arlington, but we did get to spend some time with them. S was in town for 2 weeks and D has been here for almost two months. It has been great visiting with them and just having them around. Glad they are happy and able to spend some time with us.</p>
<p>Son is spending his last week of vacation in DC at a job fair and then at his girlfriend’s college, but we saw a fair amount of him - his friends are nocturnal, but he ate dinner with us nearly every evening and played a game of Carcassonne afterwards. We finally played enough that DH and I each won a game. Just don’t expect to see him for breakfast!</p>
<p>What? Isn’t breakfast at 2 pm?</p>
<p>Happykid is asleep on the sofa, fifteen feet away from me. She’s home until the end of this month working part-time and taking an online class for her last gen ed requirement in the 3 week January term. When she is awake she is either working, doing homework, or negotiating for the car so she can go hang out with her BFFs who also are home right now. </p>
<p>But by the standards above, we clearly are getting more family time than some others.</p>
<p>“What? Isn’t breakfast at 2 pm?”</p>
<p>Hahahahaha. Thanks for the smile. My son got up every day around 2 to make a mess of the kitchen. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoyed having him home even if it was only for 2 weeks. Other than a two day ski trip, I would say that he spent 50% of waking hours with us, the other 50% with his friends. He hung out with his 12 year old sister in the basement rec room most of that time. She sooooo enjoyed having him home. I let her stay up with him until 4 a.m… She was in 7th heaven hanging with her bro! :)</p>
<p>“What? Isn’t breakfast at 2 pm?” - IJustDrive </p>
<p>Uh oh, I think my college freshman is at your house, IJustDrive!</p>
<p>Seriously, I’ve actually seen more of my son than I expected to on break. He wasn’t out with his friends every single night, and often had dinner at home (shortly after the aforementioned breakfast). </p>
<p>It may have helped that he came home with walking pneumonia and needed a lot of TLC that first week.</p>
<p>Sad we only have him the rest of this week . . .I’ll miss him, laundry, late sleeping, and all.</p>
<p>My daughter is still home from college. She is out with my car.</p>
<p>Other than a few family outings that we had to put on her calendar well in advance, we haven’t spent much time with her. We have, however, hosted many of her friends over the past few weeks. What’s really weird is that we (a not very social, not very popular couple) have a popular child. She must have a mutation of some sort.</p>
<p>I have four older children who are out of college and into their careers, as well as my youngest son, who is now a sophomore in college, and my youngest daughter, who will be a freshman next fall. I’ve therefore had a lot of experience in working through the transition to the empty nest and what my relationship is to each child and to the whole family. We had two deaths in our family in the fall, so everyone is still reeling from the losses, and we made a concerted effort to get all of the family together in one place for a week during the holidays. Even my older daughter, who now lives in London, flew out to be with us. We organized outings and dinners together over a several day period so that we all would be together. I have found that making plans to do things (take hikes, visit museums, cook special meals together, etc.) and giving ample warning so everyone will be available, is the only way to get my entire family together and to spend time with them. Now, the holidays are over, my kids are once again spread over a couple of continents, and I’m beginning to plan our next, big get-together, which will be in June, when my youngest DD graduates! All are planning to be present to honor her rite of passage.</p>
<p>Since I picked mine up and will drop him off I am guaranteed 7 hours of his undivided attention! He has really just hung around the house, sleeping way more than I though humanly possible. But he always pops up if I need him to do something.</p>
<p>D1 was a good older kid to set a good example for her younger sister. When D1 used to come home, she would also make sure she was home for dinner with us before she took off to see her friends. I used to commute 1.5 hr each way, so I would only be home from 7:30 - 10 every night. Now D2 is doing the same. She would go out during the day and spend evenings with us.</p>
<p>We always go away for their college spring breaks, so we get a lot of quality time with them.</p>
<p>Our son was home for about 2 weeks and then spent the last few days with a bunch of friends up in Big Bear “snowboarding” ( don’t think there was a lot of snowboarding as our mountains have been too warm). We saw him more than I expected to as we rarely heard from him during the quarter he was away. He also slept til noon or later most mornings. He was gone a lot at night but he also had a lot of friends over here several nights, which was a lot of fun! Twice a bunch of boys spent the night here and it was nice to hear the walls thudding as they shoved each other around- we do miss all of the kids! We have had children in our house for 29 years, so it is hard to get used to the quiet as this youngest one left!</p>
<p>There was a “sighting” at our house</p>
<p>College kid had knee surgery scheduled for the first week home. In pain, can’t drive, nausea like crazy . . . Yeah, we saw a lot of her, but certainly not the best of her . I’m not going to recommend this strategy to anybody.</p>