<p>Son just arrived home (in stages) last night and we are all overjoyed!! I think maybe we haven't allowed ourselves to think about how much we missed him...the sight of my three curled up together last night watching a video was one of the nicest sights I've seen in a while and my heart is just lighter! He is already out the door, having lined up a weekend job, but just seeing his stuff all over the place makes me happier. I don't want to think about the fact that the number of wonderful homecomings like this is finite. Son absolutely loves his school. </p>
<p>Most unusual item returning home: dorm room wastebaskets. Seems some interesting organisms are growing in them. Bringing them home to clean seemed the easiest solution.</p>
<p>Enjoy! I guess the emotional distance is the same no matter what the geographic distance between home and college. It's nice to see them fit back into the family unit and, of course, it's wonderful when they're so happy at school.</p>
<p>Patient, What a lovely post. I do, however, envy you the ability to have kept yourself from thinking until now about how much you missed your son.</p>
<p>Finite. That's the perfect description of these new parent-college kid relationships. A finite number of visits for a finite number of days. </p>
<p>(Of course, I never gave my poor mother a second thought as I traipsed around the world).</p>
<p>We leave on Thursday for a holiday visit and then we will all travel back home for a three week SUMMER break, Woohoo! (Hopefully that is, it's been freezing here).</p>
<p>Very touching, Patient. Our son's a sophomore now so we've had three homecomings so far and knowing how fast we get back to the way things used to be (everybody asleep in his/her own bed) is reassuring. Our dog, however, hates losing his recent promotion to topdog.</p>
<p>Because of Williams' 4-1-4 schedule, winterbreak is short. With the considerable travel time he'll be here less than two weeks, so it's quite intense. One of son's friends parents was bemoanin her childrens' upcoming 6 week holidays. She said they invariably end in boredom and bickering. After I graduated and moved far and farther from my family, I concluded that frequent, short and sweet, was the best advice for visits home.</p>
<p>Our son came in about 1 a.m. last night. We hadn't seen him since mid-August. We stayed up until about 3:30 a.m. just talking. He is very happy at school, loves the whole college environment. The washer has been running all day and the phone has been ringing off the hook. He'll be working over break as well, but we will see him for five weeks! (He had early finals so he got to leave early) I don't think I realized how much I missed him until he walked through the door...albeit a big shaggier than when we last saw him!</p>
<p>I did not realize kids were already home for break. Enjoy enjoy enjoy! Yeah, I guess I had not thought about it until now but it will be so different to have your child home for an extended period of time now (unlike a few days at Thanksgiving). Relish every moment. </p>
<p>My D gets fives weeks of break. However, she will be away for four of those at ski training camp with her college ski team (which she is looking forward to a great deal). So, I think I will see her for 8 days ;-(. She will likely come home one night as she wants to break away to come back to see her sister in a show. So, I do not get as long with her as most of you will get but I still look forward to the week we will have. She comes back next Sunday. </p>
<p>Well, the truth is that for the kids, probably 8 days is just about right. I know they like to recharge their emotional and sleep batteries by hanging out with sibs, sleeping in their own bed, getting everything cleaned (including the silly trash cans!), being fed well. But if I remember back to my college days, the world away from "home" began to be home--that was where the friends were, people going through the same challenges, etc. So I'm pretty understanding of that. </p>
<p>Funny how many different academic year schedules there are. Son's started late but also ends late (2nd week of June)--so I presume it all evens out in the end. He will be home for 3 weeks now, until the 3rd of January, but I think that is the only significant break they get during the year.</p>
<p>My freshman will be home Thurs. night. Can't wait. He was gone all summer and only home for 12 days between his summer program and leaving for school 3000 miles away! He will be home for 4 weeks and I am very much looking forward to having him and his older brother, a college junior, home for awhile, although I will probably soon get tired of tripping over all of their stuff :) We bought a new car this fall and didn't tell #2. Can't wait to see his face when we go pick him up at the airport...</p>
<p>D2 is a freshman, and will be coming home on Dec.21st . She already has most of her winter break mapped out - visiting friends and going away for a 2_week diving camp.</p>
<p><em>Sigh</em> . Best we can do is bribe her with a Chicago deep-dish pizza, but that's good for a single evening only...</p>
<p>optimizerdad, know how you feel. What I've noticed is that my kids love hanging out with each other. We have become somewhat superfluous (at best)--good for bringing sandwiches and doing laundry, but otherwise probably a bit too doting and inquisitive for our own good. I hang out in the background and enjoy them enjoying each other, for the most part!</p>
<p>I work my "summer" job at home during the summers, and then every weekend till the end of october (normally about 20-30 hours per weekend, give or take a few) and then after that i come home thanksgiving, christmas, and easter. I spend my spring break building houses in florida. I occasionally come home for a weekend here and there to visit with my boyfriend, or for a family members birthday.. I think it's nice to come home sometimes - but I just love it out at school. </p>
<p>I came home this weekend to visit - and to my suprise I seem to have lost my parking spot! My aunt and her two kids moved in with us about three weeks ago, and the one just got his license. I got home at like 11:30PM Friday night and had to park "sideways" at the end of my driveway so I wasn't sticking out into the street. Apparently I was supposed to park in the grass.. Definately not going to happen. I just bought myself a new car about a month ago... I don't want to get it all muddied up inside by me trekking through the muddy grass to get to it :)</p>
<p>Poor fendergirl! We are having parking issues at our house too, as both summer and now in winter break, we have found ourselves caring for cars of kids who have flown home for vacation. We enjoy it especially since both times the cars have been much nicer and snazzier-looking than ours :). Hope you don't feel too displaced.</p>
<p>I must have caught the bleary-eyed virus from TheDad. I'm thinking of you all with happiness and a bit of selfish sadness about my own daughter leaving in a year and a half.</p>
<p>Carolyn, we'll keep you company--it really is a joy watching them grow this way. They seem to come home taller--even if they have stopped growing!</p>
<p>hey, was just snooping around, bored...im actually a freshman in college... w/ some tips for parents...be aware of somethings, please, for our sake...</p>
<ol>
<li> We are not used to curfews...expect High School curfews to be broken</li>
<li> The guys among us usually get messier (God knows I did)</li>
<li> Dorm language is very different from home language (dont be surprised if
something slips out)...</li>
<li> Most of us drink...sorry to shatter any illusions</li>
<li> We can't wait to see our friends, so dont be offended if were in and out the door</li>
<li> We've been living on our own, and we think we can handle ourselves, and to a certain extent we can</li>
<li> We have unusual sleeping habits...dont be alarmed, and DON'T wake us up when you used to!!! :)</li>
<li> We miss our parents more than we let on...</li>
<li> Try to keep things how we left them, its comforting knowing (or thinking) nothing has changed...</li>
<li> We're always hungry...:)</li>
</ol>