<p>Another question for you wise, experienced parents of Grinnellians: How long do you recommend staying for Family Weekend? I reserved a motel for 2 nights, but looking at the schedule, it looks like that might be a bit much to stay the whole weekend. What were your experiences with that weekend?</p>
<p>Last year, we flew in on Friday and left on Sunday. This year we're actually getting in Thursday night so we can sit in on a class or 2 on Friday. We tell our son we don't expect a ton of time with him. We'll take him out to dinner Friday and Sat nights (along with any friends he wants to invite) and we'll probably have lunch with him in the student center those days. Sunday we'll leave after breakfast. It didn't feel excessive last year and I expect it won't this year either. But we don't expect our son to spend all his time with us. Those weekend hours with friends are precious! We have gotten to know some other Grinnell parents and that's fun too.</p>
<p>Last year we flew in and got to Grinnell in the evening on Thursday. Our S met us for an hour while we ate dinner. We got together for Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday going to Iowa City and Des Moines, and we flew back on Monday morning. We were lucky, our S didn't mind spending time with us. He had classes on Friday morning and afternoon. I'd book 3 or 4 nights depending on when you get in. You can always check out early with no penalty. We're doing the same this year but realistically expect less time with him based on his schedule.</p>