<p>In this morning's Times, an article about parents buying second homes for themseleves near campuses where their kids are currently enrolled! </p>
<p>
[quote]
Many, like the Berriens, want front-row seats to watch their family athletes perform. Some seek a gathering place for football games or family holidays. Others long for a retreat that is also a possible place to retire with the amenities of a college town — and why not the one where they have children attending? </p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Despite glowing descriptions of family get-togethers, sideline support and easygoing drop-ins from a child, some experts voiced concern about parents who stay in such close proximity to their kids. </p>
<p>“We’ve heard about boomerang kids who return home after college, but this is kind of like boomerang parents,” said Alan Reifman, a professor of human development and family studies at Texas Tech University and an expert in the field of emerging adulthood. “There is a potential for intrusiveness.”
<p>I found this even more interesting in that my D spent half the summer at Middlebury and was accepted at Notre Dame (though chose to attend another college). We've spent time in both cities and could see the appeal.
Vermont is such a gorgeous state, although I am not sure I could stand the severity of the winters. I think the South Bend winters are pretty rough too.</p>
<p>I read an article in the Northwestern school paper about the parents of a basketball player who did the same thing in Evanston. Guess if you have the money, it would be more convenient than always looking for a hotel room when you go to watch your student athlete compete!!</p>
<p>I know a family who relocated to the town where their kids are at college --- not a second home, a permanent new home. It's a small college in a small town.</p>
<p>Many of the parents interviewed cited the difficulty of getting hotel accommodations, especially for the big games. Still, I think the whole set-up sounds terribly intrusive. Also, it interferes with one of college's major benefits -- helping your kid learn to solve life's little and middle-sized problems independently. There's just something about NOT having mom and dad in the same city when you have car trouble or your laptop fails or your bike is stolen. You can call home for guidance, but basically, you have to solve the problem yourself. I'm sure there are families who structure the situation to avoid hovering, but I think the impulse to over-rely on parents is just too great if they are a stone's throw away.</p>