thanksgiving! college son finally back home!

<p>I've been trying to decide what to do for thanksgiving, so I figured I'd post here...</p>

<p>I'm a Jr, and the last time I saw my parents was Homecoming (last month) so it's a little different situation from you guys... but my family almost always goes to NYC to visit relatives during Thanksgiving, and I really want to go- but it looks like my parents aren't going this year... </p>

<p>I feel like I should spend time with them and I want to make sure my mom's not too stressed out, but I also really want to go talk to my cousin who's a frosh at Tufts this year to see how things are going. But I feel bad that my Dad's coming up this weekend to go to an Arlo Guthrie concert with me, and I know my mom gets upset sometimes that I'm a daddy's girl, and I do want to see her... But NYC has so much more to do and so many fewer presidents I dislike. Plus my brother's living at home right now 'til he can afford his own place, so it's not like they're empty nesting.</p>

<p>Either way it's a $50 train ride (one way), but I get Turkey. Decisions, decisions.</p>

<p>This thread is wonderful. I still have a year to go before going through this but it is a good window into the future... Might be fun to do a family trip to NYC or Plymouth and create a new tradition!</p>

<p>achat: </p>

<p>Maybe its because I grew up with a bald dad, but I have never thought of a balding man as less attractive; sure I can appreciate great hair, but bald vs great hair is not on my 'attractiveness' radar.</p>

<p>Hi Patient!How did son make out with the college hunt? Are the applications in?
Dulce; Could have sworn you were an Italian from yor post! So Italian sounding!Sounded like Sophia Loren, could just see you hugging your son and not letting go!! </p>

<p>Funny about the hair.Son does the same thing. Doesn't it look nice where it gets to that certain length? - not short, not really long.And such a shock when they have it cut. My kid was in such a state of upsetment after it was cut last summer.He said,'this is how I define myself.'So we bought some bleach and colored it and that worked just fine until it grew out.
Muppet; I can see your point but it would probably mean so much to your mom for you to be there for Thanksgiving. Consider it an unspoken gift to her and go.And try to think of somethng fun for you all to do too!</p>

<p>SBMom, you are right. Just that at age 22, he will look a lot older.</p>

<p>Anyway, back to the original topic.</p>

<p>garland---you cracked me up with your "mowing" his hair a couple inches comment! Toooo funny!!</p>

<p>I'm getting pretty excited to see not only our son Thanksgiving week, but also many of his friends as well. He went to a very small private school (about 30 in his graduating class) and I just love so many of those kids. A small school really makes for a close-knit group.
My son has invited everyone from his '04 class to our house for a party the night after Thanksgiving. So I am making plans for lots of great food and lots of fun (yes, I will get to hang around for at least part of it). These kids hung around our house a lot during highschool and I have missed some of them almost as much as my own son. So I am thrilled that the "reunion party" will be here at our house (even if I am cooking turkey dinner for 25 the day before the party). I'll crash after son flies back to college.</p>

<p>Hi BHG--son is a college freshman...:)....I know, I know, in the flurry of college apps, it's hard to keep people straight, sometimes! How is yours doing? Any news?</p>

<p>Hi Patient; He's in all the tech colleges applied to, just waiting to hear about the state college.He will not be playing college tennis.The opportunity was there but he doesn't want it.I thought this may happen.(Daughter dropped ballet and tennis as a h.s. senior.)Sorry about it but I've seen kids dropping sports in college and kids get injured so I'm happy he is happy and enjoying life.</p>

<p>Someone should open a thread as to how to assert oneself as a parent with hair issues.Good luck with that party. Wow, two big events in two days. My refridgerator would not be big enough.</p>

<p>BHG--I know several superb high school athletes who made the same decision as your son and they are extremely happy in school. I know that a couple of them are playing their sports at the club level (basketball primarily) and intramurals and having a great time without the crazy amount of time required to be on the varsity team. Best of luck to him! </p>

<p>No hair issues here, really. The campus barber gives better haircuts for 1/2 the price of the "regular" cutter. (another benefit of D1 athletics, I guess, if you're not crazy about the wild hair!) One daughter is talking about dyeing parts of hair red but I figure it's better than miscellaneous body piercing so I'm not complaining.</p>

<p>BHG, I don't really have any hair issues. When mine decided to grow a beard I decided that if facial hair was the worst thing (and the only rebellion) I had to deal with then I was one lucky lady. Besides his dad and grandpa both have beards!</p>

<p>I think all parents of the LONG-HAIRS, be thankful! My S at college decided it was time to get his STREAKED with blonde highlights. Don't ask. Now, such a shame, he's on Propecia to keep if from falling out. So sad...he was always enamored with his head of hair and now it is only a faint memory!</p>

<p>Wow, I have not read this thread til now and lots of great stuff here. </p>

<p>On hair...baldness runs in my family...my dad and brothers are bald. I have thin hair. As far as haircuts go, to those of you lamenting that your sons don't get their hair cut and have long curly hair.....I have a hubby who just turned 50 and he also has a thick head of curly hair and I am the one who cuts it for him and he is very lax about getting it cut, waits WAY too long, and it is also the "problem" you are seeing with your young sons and he is not young! He, too, has a beard. A young man stopped us on the street and told my hubby that he looked just like Jerry Garcia. Then some anonymous caller called our house when my hubby was running for school board and his picture was in the paper and the guy tells me I should tell my husband to get his hair and beard cut because he looks too much like Saddam Hussein! So, uh, this problem about getting the guy to cut his hair, might not end at age 22! </p>

<p>My college freshman daughter is getting her hair cut at college this Monday at some event they are having as a fundraiser at the athletic center (she is an athlete) where hairdressers are coming in and doing haircuts. </p>

<p>On Thanksgiving....it is going to be full of travel for my college daughter. Of course she wants to come home and we want her to be here. Besides it being one of the only times she gets to come home and we barely see her, it is the time when her high school friends will also be coming home and so naturally the first chance to see any of them. But my mother really really wanted us to come to her house in Philly (we live in Vermont) and on top of that request, my Dad died last year on Thanksgiving weekend when we were there. Anyway, my D is first flying to Phila. for Thanksgiving and we will be driving all day long to get there and meet up. Then on Friday, we will drive all day back to Vermont so she can get to come home. I think she is hoping to have the high school kids over our house for a little "reunion" too like someone else mentioned here, and then she will travel by car with fellow Brown students back to Brown on Sunday. It is a lot of travel but the only way we could satisfy everyone and still get to have her come home a little too.
Susan</p>

<p>Soozie...I remember that last year your stories about your dad were one of the first things I read (having just discovered the Parents Forum) and I think I'll always remember them. Holidays for those of us who have lost parents are always hard, and even years later there is still a strong spirit that dines with us and makes us both sad for their absence and happy that we can remember fondly. I hope you have a really good holiday and that the weather is okay for driving.</p>

<p>I definitely don't think my son's long hair is an issue. Half the time, his dad's is longer, and both have beards, but my H's is much bushier. My dad had a beard, and my FIL had a beard and a ponytail for a while.Now that I think about it, just about every male in the family has a beard.</p>

<p>Thank You, Patient for your thoughtfulness. I think about my dad every day and I do get sad at things he is missing out on that he did not want to miss. I think of this particularly when the kids have "good" things happen and he was always so into the grandkids, so it is hard when he missed graduation, finding out where my D went to college or like this weekend when my other D is in a major production that he would have come see (my Mom is flying in alone, however). He will be missed at Thanksgiving a lot. </p>

<p>By they way, beards are big in my family...hubby and both brothers have 'em. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

<p>Searchingavalon, I promised I wouldn't complain about my kids' hair either--but sometimes it's hard! My S went to a private high school with a uniform policy and strict rules regarding length of hair. YOu won't be surprised to hear that he came home freshman year of college with long flowing curls AND an earring in each ear. Now when he gets a haircut, it's a good news/bad news scenario--the good news is that his hair looks better, but the BAD news is that you can see the earrings better. Oh well. . ..</p>

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<p>LOL. The good news is that the earrings are not on his tongue, nose, lip, etc...</p>