Summer After Freshman Year--Back In the Nest? Yes or No

<p>Lurkness, I'm with you. I'm thrilled to have her home for an extended period - I know these opportunities will be few and far between in the next few years, so no objections from me!</p>

<p>I do however, what her to be satisfied with the summer, so it's in her hands to "fill" her summer up with enough to keep her busy so she's OK with being home!</p>

<p>Well, mine will be a freshman this fall, and I am already hoping she will be home next summer! But then I was one of those parents for whom school vacations were always too short. Lots of other mothers couldn't wait for summer to be over. It was always over too soon for me.</p>

<p>Well, I'm with you Heron. That is how I always felt. But sometimes their plans and opportunities get in the way of what we prefer. Sadly.</p>

<p>I never had a problem with them home, and when they were (or are) it didn't/doesn't seem miserable for them, either. They have always been productive and friendly, and I would be pretty bummed if at 18/19 years old, all of a sudden home seemed like a terrible place to be. My D did have partial or whole summers away a couple times, and that was fine. but my S always had a job in the area, and that was fine too. And that makes me happy.</p>

<p>I was hesitant to post, as knowing our story, someone was likely to say--see, goes to show you-- but since other braver folks posted their non-issue, I decided to buck up and concur.</p>

<p>my freshman summer I spent almost all of it away from home- I was there for like 2-3 weeks out of the summer. My sophomore summer my parents actually moved into NYC since I had a job there for the summer and my dad commutes for most of the year. It worked out great, I really enjoyed spending time with my family, but in a place with a bit more to do than my suburban jersey hometown.</p>

<p>My son spent the summers after his freshman and sophomore years at home, working at a local internship, and I missed him greatly when he stayed on campus the summer after his junior year to work on research. There was some difficulty during his summers at home with him wanting to stay out late at night and his father wanting him to be home early so that the house would be quiet (dad has to get up early in the morning). But other than that, it seemed OK, at least from my point of view.</p>

<p>My daughter, now a freshman, will be home this summer. She is waiting to hear about some internships, but if she doesn't get one, she will be taking summer courses at a local college. So either way, she will have something to do, which is important since she doesn't do well with large chunks of unstructured time (for her, Winter Break is hell). I'm looking forward to having her here. I don't think late nights will be a problem. If she gets one of the internships, she will be getting up very early in the morning to commute there, and if she goes to summer school, she will be taking eight o'clock classes. She may end up going to bed as early as her dad does.</p>

<p>Please don't get me wrong. I'm so looking forward to having d home! From rising 7th grade to rising 11th grade summers, she was away for most of the summers at camp or other programs. </p>

<p>She hasn't said anything about having a problem being home; she didn't broach any other suggestions. I'm hoping we can all get along with just some basic courtesies. But we'll see!</p>

<p>Mine will be home for the summer. Working if we have any say in the matter. Maybe taking a summer class at the CC. I would prefer he go and do something away from home but his Dad is insisting on him having a paying job this summer. The girlfriend at home is the main draw for my dear son.</p>

<p>I would love my daughter to be home for more of the summer - I really miss her (though actually we see her quite often as her school is not far away and she comes to eat every couple of weeks and steal leftovers and other food). But I have to be happy for her that she is getting to spend the summer doing something she has wanted to do since she started going on summer missions with our church at 14.</p>

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The girlfriend at home is the main draw for my dear son.

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</p>

<p>It could be worse. I think the shopping malls at home are the main draw for my daughter, who is going to have an excuse to do a lot of shopping. Inexplicably, despite her campus being known for excellent food, she lost 18 pounds during her freshman year, and most of her clothes don't fit properly anymore.</p>

<p>Chedva, my own D came home the summer after her freshman year for the same reason: we weren't about to subsidize her housing costs in Boston if she could live rent-free at home in Colorado. It worked out OK -- but she was REALLY anxious to get back to her school life come September. By the time she was packing she was threatening "this is my LAST summer in Denver!" It was a little hurtful, but I know she didn't mean it in a negative way: she was simply ready for a more permanent life in an exciting city. Ironically enough, she was home for the semester six weeks later: she got mono and spent much of october and november at home in bed! This summer, she's staying in Boston, working and taking classes trying to make up for a lost semester -- and is very happy about it. (Sigh-but I'm happy she's happy.)</p>

<p>Marian! Yikes! 18 pounds is a lot of weight to lose. I hope she's OK...</p>

<p>katliamom, she seems to be fine. She just has a schedule that makes it hard to get to the dining halls for some of the scheduled meals, and she doesn't seem to make up for the missed meals in other ways. She was a little heavier than she would like to be at the beginning of the year. Now she's considerably thinner, but still in the normal range. I think the absence of a kitchen full of food downstairs simply discouraged her from eating more than she should, and the extra exercise of walking around a huge campus helped her to take weight off, too.</p>

<p>But all her pants don't fit properly now, which is frustrating because she bought about ten pair last summer so that she wouldn't have to do laundry too often. <em>sigh</em></p>

<p>If anything was wrong with her, I would know. She always seeks my advice on health issues (to the point where she once e-mailed me a photograph of a cut to ask whether it was infected). She has had a few medical problems during this school year, but nothing that she couldn't deal with.</p>

<p>My daughter actually returned to our geographic area after freshman year and sublet a room in an apartment to live on her own (with bf) in the city. (I'm in a suburb about 15 minutes away) So she was home a few days, moved out, then came home for about a week at the end of the summer before returning to school. I got to see her by arranging to meet her in the city and stopping by her apartment. She had an internship in the city, so she was working full time. </p>

<p>The cool thing is that she got very frustrated and complained to me that her roommates were alway leaving dirty dishes in the sink and she was stuck doing everyone's dishes all the time. Boy, was she angry! I told her I knew the feeling.... well. (Since then when she has stayed at home she has been soooo much better about helping out around the house).</p>

<p>For the coming summer I won't see her at all - she's going abroad, leaving from and returning to NY where she attends school.</p>

<p>My freshman S finally announced this week that he was, in fact, coming home. He's been on and off, but his next year roommate is still on foreign study so I think he decided he's rather be home. I really think it will be the last time he comes home for an extended period of time. My h and I "think" we're happy about it. Christmas went well and he seemed genuinely happy to be home (as opposed to his senior HS year) and he has his "old job" all ready lined up. I can relate, as the summer between my freshman and sophmore college years was the last time I came home for an extended period of time with the exception of the Christmas break.</p>

<p>We are looking forward to our S return home for the summer. He has applied for a couple of jobs already and hopefully he will have something lined up by the end of the school year. He needs to work this summer since the Bank of Mom and Dad will be closed from May to Sept. He also wants to work which is nice. Since like all the other college kids, he keeps odd hours it will be interesting to see how he manages to get up for work each day. My dishwasher, fridge and washer/dryer are not looking forward to him returning.
He just informed us today that since next year they had to sign a 11 month lease for housing on campus, that he would like to take a summer class. My response was good, you can get a job there on campus for when you are not in class.
We should all check back in with each other in July to see if we are still thrilled to have them home. It will be interesting.....</p>

<p>
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He needs to work this summer since the Bank of Mom and Dad will be closed from May to Sept.

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LOL justhismom :D</p>

<p>My freshman will be home this summer which makes mom, dad and the dog happy. He's been offered a lab job which pays decently and says he also wants to do some tutoring on the side to earn some extra money. He says he wants to spend this last summer with his high school friends who will be here, but that this is probably his last summer home. Sounds about right to me and we're thrilled he'll be home. (Older brother is graduating and starts his "real" job 1,000 miles away.</p>

<p>Both of mine are nocturnal and our rule is "be very very quiet and don't wake us up." They know I am a worrier, so they tell me where they are going and call if their plans change. If it's late, they send a text message so if I wake up in the middle of the night I'll know where they are. Works well for everyone. Plus, with a day job semi-normal hours are a requirement.</p>

<p>My daughter is going to be home this summer. She has 2 jobs lined up locally. We are looking forward to have her home for a while. She was home for 6 weeks this winter and it just flew. We have a few family trips planned this summer already. I think this may be the last summer she is home...she will probably do a year abroad junior year...it makes said.</p>

<p>DS will be back in the nest this summer. I'm off in the summer (teacher) so it works out well, since we will have to share a car. He'll be working M-F 8+ hours outside in the baking heat, supervising little hoodlums at outside camp - so he's going to be plenty ready to sleep and I don't anticipate any issues. He's a great guy and hubby and I will be delighted to have him here. :)</p>