Wonder what it will be like. Will he be wildly independent? Are we going to have to make dinner more often now? Will he fight for the car with his sister? Will the summer go by quickly or normally, as it has the past 19 years? Will packing to go back in August be any easier? Will the new MEFA loans be a hassle? I’m supposed to meet him for dinner tonight and pick up some winter stuff he doesn’t need, and to make the moving out day easier. Are moving out days similar to the move-in day? Is it happy and festive? Is it a mad rush? Our next child has to make her decision very soon. I don’t know if I can take it, hahaha just kidding, if I made it through ages 1-3, I can do anything, right?
Ages 1-3 were the easy years!
I predict it will be a wonderful summer! Enjoy visiting with your young adult, who may have new interests and opinions and ideas, and perhaps even patience with the younger sister he never expected to miss quite so much, and appreciation of the parent whose brilliance he never before noticed!
Regarding the move out he will probably be less organized than you would prefer and chances are he hasn’t properly cleaned his room. (just hope he isn’t the last roommate to leave) Be prepared with paper towels, windex and bags to carry his stuff.
It is so fun to have them back home and yes he will prob fight with his sister about the car They won’t say it, but they will be so happy to be around one another. Both of mine tended to stay up really late and sleep until noon or 1pm. Try to limit this late sleeping to the first week home. If there is anything you want him to accomplish over the summer, try to get it done early.
Enjoy having your family unit reunited for the summer.
He will come home and be on a completely different schedule from the rest of the household. He will stay up very, very late and emerge at noon at the earliest, looking for food. He will want to come and go at will, with no regard for family dinners and so on. Often he will announce while you are actually cooking dinner that he is going out with friends and someone will be there to pick him up in half an hour.
This will go on unless or until he has a job. 
Move out was always miserable, IMO. Kajon’s advice about cleaning supplies is sound. Take more boxes than you think you will need. You can always leave a few behind for the other students and they will be grateful.
Remember all that stuff you loaded in the car to take to college in the fall? Most of it is coming back. Much of it may not fit in that child’s bedroom. I recommend clearly out a storage area that is clean and dry so that you can put the stuff that is specifically for college (storage carts, extra bedding, surge protectors - all that crap!) in one out of the way spot for the next few months - till August rolls around again. Much easier to just pick it up and go again.
What Consolation said! But you will be happy he is home and vice versa. I will say that by the end of the summer i was sort of ready for him to go back. Tired of him wanting to come home whenever and arguing about it. DH can’t rest easy worrying if the door will be locked, etc. it was still hard to say goodbye, but not as horrible as the 1st year. To be honest, I’m often more sad when he leaves after a weekend or a week, then after the whole summer. I think at that point I’m ready for my routine again.
Move out is not as hectic as move-in because not everyone is leaving at the same time. They generally leave within 24 hours of their last final. D1 always had a TON of stuff, so move-in and move-out were tough. S2 traveled light and was always ready, so it was a breeze. Last year when we picked S3 up after his freshmen year he had not packed a thing. Plastic bins or even Hefty bags would have been great, but I forgot those, so we just threw everything in the back of the car and he sorted through it when we got home. I agree with Consolation about the sleep schedule. Also they have a tendency to think that now that they are worldly and independent that they know absolutely everything. Since it was our third time around I was expecting it, what was funny was that S1 and D2 were horrified by S3’s behavior. But luckily it is a phase that they grow out of. Finals can be rough, so it usually takes mine a few days to fully recover.
In defense of your offspring (don’t want to call them a child!) OP, I will say that the most important thing will be for you all to have “respect” for the new routine. He is not the graduated HS senior of last year - increase the freedom. You and your other family members have developed new routines while he has been gone - he needs to respect that too!
Speak soon, speak often. If something is bugging you (ANY of you!) bring it up before problems fester too long.
Summertime is such a wonderful time and should be a little laid back for everyone IMO - even if you or others are working - everyone still needs to work as a family so that enjoyment time for everyone gets maximized!
Is there a job involved? Our kids worked every summer from senior year of HS on so that made it not seem so crazy.
My youngest only came home that freshman summer. Since then he’s stayed and worked in his college town.
Kid out of synch with household- both of you changed habits during the year. Move out- do a last check for things H and son were going to abandon his pillows one year because they thought they wouldn’t fit (mom the super packer of course got everything in the suv). Be sure all screws et al for shelves come home with you (saw some in hall left behind). Stressful for student because you want to know a time/date while they are busy finishing finals. At least I could check his finals schedule online and knew when his last one was. Staggered because students are supposed to be out within 24 hours of last final and everyone finishes different days. Nothing formal.
Knowing son would never get around to clearing out the piles unloaded from the car I did it- storing stuff for the next year. There were some things he never used and some never even knew he had (some he asked for on the phone and I told him they had gone to school with him- eg medicine type stuff). Moving in the second time is so much easier. Kid knows what to take, less taken. Experience helps. Also, everything likely already purchased so no last minute trips to the college town stores.
Home for the summer is different. Less close to HS friends than after senior year- different experiences. No longer in the household routine- you got used to not having him around to do any chores. Expect a lot more food purchases. No more going to bed thinking there’s plenty of milk- it could be gone in the wee hours. You can’t expect a college student used to keeping his own hours to go back to the old routines.
Remember down time is needed for students. Sleep the first week. Will be wanting to go back to friends and campus- the childhood home is no longer home like it was a year ago. You have grown apart- this means you have done a great job as a parent.
Just remembered this thread I started! Was busy wiping wet eyes after looking over the June orientation for our #2 going to UVM. I’m so happy for her, and the smile on her face, priceless! Just set a move out time for #1. We are lucky cuz he was close and we saw him a bunch. My dinner in town with him was great he was so excited and animated to explain his final project. He has a tooth filling and jury duty when he gets home and he has 2 jobs. hahaha glad he’s young. Thank you all for your input. Gosh we are lucky, aren’t we? I’m dropping off 6 Home Depot moving boxes and a big duffle bag early next week and we’re getting him next Saturday. I remember after he moved in I think he said something to the effect of “thank you Dad for stressing over all the stuff you took care of for me”.
It is good to have a conversation with your college kid on rules, roles and responsibilities. I told my kids that they couldn’t have friends over past 11 because I had to work next day, and I also expected them to be home at a decent hour so I wouldn’t be waiting up for them. They were expected to help out around the house. I expected them to be home for dinner except if they told me otherwise.
In the beginning of summer, there is always a bit of adjustment. I tend to cut them more slack in the beginning, but I reminded them that my house wasn’t a dorm or a bed and breakfast. I really didn’t have much of an issue with my kids coming home, and I missed them when they returned to school.
Aww rumrunner, I know just how you feel with the wet face thing. We’re going up to Burlington next week to see our #3 graduate. Boy, did those four years go fast! She’s going to love UVM. I’m kinda sad that we won’t have an excuse to go up there so often anymore.
@oldfort has it right about a conversation. It took us until summer #2 to figure that out, but it changed not just that summer, but our whole relationship. It was only then that we (well, mostly I) understood that I was the parent of a young adult now, a young adult who didn’t want or need my advice or my help with her life. And it was only then that she understood that while she was indeed an adult, she wasn’t a free agent when she was staying under our roof temporarily, and that some courtesy and thoughtfulness were called for. As @abasket says, respect all the way around. Once we’d established all of that, specific issues like coming-home time and chores were quite easy to work out.
My biggest issue is how the car gets shared between high school student and college student home from college.
@LBowie sit down with your students and create a list of priorities that the car may be needed for. In my mind, the priority list would be #1) work #2) classes being taken #3) volunteering #4) socializing. #1 and 2 may be equal. Let them figure out their car schedules around their priorities. Compromise is a good thing, maybe someone that wants to socialize can be willing to do a pick up and drop off of someone that needs to work.
Solution is an even/odd day schedule, with exceptions if needed to go to a lesson, etc. Much drama yesterday over a bike with flat tires,… Sigh. and older one is investigating driving for Uber on his days. Should be interesting.
awww good luck! you got front/rear strobes on that bike? sorry I’m a former bike commuter