<p>Junior S goes back to school today with classes starting tomorrow. I loved having him home- always do. But gotta admit an entire month off is a long time to be generally “unproductive!” Surely all that time off and doing “nothing” bothers me more than him!</p>
<p>He saw a lot of family. He organized his emails, took care of a few prep things for this coming semester. He played a good bit of tennis (he plays for his D3school). But it was a rare occasion that he hit the pillow before the wee hours of,the morning and a rare occasion that he opened his eyes before 10 or 11. I lost a lot of sleep getting reacquainted with all the in and out of the house at odd hours, the worrying about being out driving in those wee hours, etc- just never get used to this! Much as I’ll miss him, he needs to get a life!!</p>
<p>My D went to a school that was on quarters so her Christmas break was shorter - about 2 weeks. Not sure which is better. </p>
<p>No real question here I guess, but raising a glass to the end of Christmas break and back to “regular” , productive life to young and old!!!</p>
<p>Oldest had semesters, but her school offered ten days of lectures and non credit classes inbetween terms- she always went back to school for Paideia. Where else can you share a breakfast bagel with Dr Demento or take a similar caligraphy course to the one that inspired Steve Jobs?</p>
<p>My youngest has qtrs, but spent much of her time at friends or on a mt vacation with her Bf & his family this year.
Today she had to get up at 5am to be ready to take the bus for her ski class @ 6am. Her Bf gave her a ride this morning to the ski bus but she will have to find another ride for the rest of the session. He loves her, but that isnt always enough motivation to get up & out @ 5am on Sunday morning in the winter if you don’t have to!</p>
<p>I like Qtrs better, not so much time to get off track, although it seems that the qtr classes can require just as much reading and writing as a semester class, just less time to do it in.</p>
<p>Next year our DD will have a month off for Christmas break. I think it will be hard with her not having much to do. Her summer job is only a summer job so no working for that month. She might be able to pick up a retail job over Christmas though so we will have her look into that. It will be interesting for sure.</p>
<p>I will toast to that! Love having him here, miss him terribly when he’s gone but was relieved to see him off a few days ago. A month is too long of a break, IMO!</p>
<p><em>clink</em> I loved having the whole family undergone roof for the winter break but now I’m loving the quiet!
Tme to clean up the mess the kids left their wake…</p>
<p>My daughter flies out tomorrow morning. She has been almost completely unproductive, staying up late and sleeping in. I really don’t mind too much though, at school she has practice very early in the morning and is in bed before 10pm except on Saturdays. She did get a few things done to prep for this semester, worked on some applications for internships and another special program, but mostly just hung out with friends and family and caught up on TV shows she missed while at school. When she leaves tomorrow, we won’t see her again until mid-May, so I have enjoyed the longer break!</p>
<p>My S was only home for 2 weeks, which went fast. Oldest D managed to be home for a whole week (she has graduated and is working now). We are traveling next weekend and D wanted to visit a college, but they don’t go back to class until Tuesday the 22 either! So we will hang out on campus some as students are returning.</p>
<p>My DD still home for the rest of the month! Fortunately she has an internship so it has curtailed her social life and her late nights! She’s been home for so long, it’s like she’s never left (even though she’s a junior!). I will miss her when she finally goes back (Super Bowl weekend), but it will be nice to get back to my new normal routine!</p>
<p>That was my Jr son his first two breaks and I did rib him about it. This break he’s taking a winterim online upper level math class. Already had a proctored midterm and has to be back by the 18th for the final. He’s also working on a CS research project he’s been involved with. He still sleeps late and has been able to watch some football and do some other stuff but much of his waking hours have been spent working. There hasn’t been any real grumbling about it.</p>
<p>Second year D was home two weeks, and it was enough to make me think Holy Heck, summer’s a-coming. She was bored out of her mind. She really hasn’t stayed in touch with very many kids from high school, and apparently, the rest of us aren’t all that entertaining.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman going to an OOS school on a music scholarship and has the 4-weeks off break. He practiced some, saw the grandparents, hung out with friends, saw some movies, stayed out late and slept in,</p>
<p>I may be a party of one here, but he deserved it in my opinion. He is busy enough and will be again soon, looking forward to a shorter repeat over Spring Break.</p>
<p>Well StoneMagic, I agree with that - especially for a freshman. 18 years is different than going on 21 ( a junior ) - S is super busy at school with classes, a sport, a job and a couple of campus activities but a month off is IMO a LONG time! But I’m someone who can’t sit still very long and who tends to fill my days pretty packed. S by the way had no problem with his time off, the late nights and the daily lounging late in bed!!! </p>
<p><em>clink</em> We have strict curfews here, so no crazy hours, and I took vacation, and my girls helped me with a lot of things that needed doing. We all enjoyed the break. I’m glad it was a month long, but I’m also glad that things are now back to normal. :)</p>
<p>My first child, a senior, never had more than two weeks until this year when she had three weeks. My second, a freshman, had about a month off. </p>
<p>The older decided she should keep track of the younger and I kind of felt as though I was refereeing toddlers again. The older, the academic superstar, felt as though she should be in the loop with the younger’s first semester performance. Argh. </p>
<p>The older has few friends here and the younger is very social. What do you think? Am I happy everyone is back to school? Life is good.</p>
<p>My oldest son is the one I’ve written about who developed a mental illness at his OOS school and came home to live. This will be his third semester at our local school, and I have to say I am SO happy to have him here. He is just thriving. I’ve never seen him so contented and SECURE. He’s taking care of his own affairs and helps out around the house without being asked. He’s got a room in our daylight basement that he likes a lot (in-floor heating). It gives him a degree of independence, because he can come and go without our knowing. If you had told me two years ago how well he’d be doing now, I probably wouldn’t have believed you!</p>
<p>Now we just have to help Son #2 get to that point…</p>
<p>Good for your S MaineLonghorn. What a relief for your family. So glad you S is thriving. S2 suffered from depression during his first sem. of college. It was a debacle. We thought college was over for him and were so happy when he started back in the right direction the next sem. </p>
<p>S2 graduated last May so this is his first Christmas without a Christmas break. His friends who are in college for a fifth year are sleeping late,hanging out, partying and S1’s working 12 hours/day.
It’s not an easy adjustment. He misses college.</p>
<p>My S went back last Sunday after 3 weeks at home. He worked almost every day at the part time job he has had since high school. He would have been bored to tears if he had nothing to do. </p>
<p>Next break he is going to Florida and the break after that DC. </p>
<p>Mainelonghorn, happy to hear your son is doing so well. ++++ for your other son.</p>
<p>We had our working son for a week. He flew in from CA on his own dime, so we are grateful. S2 had 3 weeks. It was about the right amount except that we won’t see him for spring break (he’s doing a junior year abroad) and we probably won’t get much of him this summer either (he’s hoping to be overseas, and if he’s not he’s likely to working up in Boston.)</p>