<p>I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it gotta get accepted first… :/</p>
<p>Wishing all the parents of graduating seniors a wonderful week of graduation activities!!! Congrats!</p>
<p>As promised, here is my report on Harvard College Graduation 2014!! (CAVEAT - I am GRANDMA & 80 years young.)
I was ill prepared for COLD, WINDY & WET weather! I flew from Palm Beach to Boston arriving Tuesday afternoon, meeting the family at the airport. My grandson met & dropped us off at The Holiday Inn Express, Cambridge. (I used Priority Club Points for the 3 nights). After checking in, we taxied to SOLDIERS FIELD for the 6PM Dinner! (Taxi fare was $26 + tip. I recommend Downloading the UBER App to your Smart Phone - less than $12 fare charged right to your credit card & no tip!!!) The Buffet Dinner was TENTED, picnic tables were outside - BRRrr! Our graduate is a ‘Bandie’ so music & partying was joyous & the food was great, especially appreciated the HOT Clam Chowder! Friends drove us back to our hotel. Wednesday AM we caught a ride to campus with other guests from the hotel, shopped at the COOP for sweaters, scarves etc. & arrived for the LUNCHEON (Alumni Assoc. bagged it!), onward to CLASS DAY Exercises (<em>Sheryl Sandburg), onward to the HOUSE Reception, then more GRADUATION ALUMNI exercises w/speeches galore (</em>Michael Bloomberg), (we didn’t miss any) & we braved damp & cold & windy weather to the eve. BAND CONCERT. Thursday, COMMENCEMENT DAY dawned dry and somewhat warmer (just a bit). I had disability seats & arrived about 9AM, which was fine. (I understand others arrived as early as 7AM). We enjoyed the HOUSE LUNCHEON outside on the lawn, watched the PRESENTATION of DIPLOMAS with much pride and picture taking & onward to a DEPARTMENT RECEPTION held at the Science Bldg. We had a 6PM FAMILY DINNER reservation at Sandrine’s (walking distance & very good) and UBER back to the hotel, enjoying time with visiting family. Our graduate, with his visiting cousins, friends & classmates partied into the night. I left Friday (UBER @8:30AM) for my flight back to Florida. It was not easy constantly keeping up with the events schedule, all the confusing ticketing, connecting with our graduate, connecting with other family members, and braving the bad weather.<br>
Thank goodness for mobile phones. Hope my report helps with your planning for 2015. </p>
<p>Bubbe,</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your report! I am quite impressed. You are so hip—UBERing and all! Does anyone know how many tickets graduates are allotted for the main graduation?</p>
<p>Hi,
I am a parent of a freshman at Harvard and I enjoyed reading everybody comment,suggestions,etc.
While I am thrilled that my son is at Harvard, I am surprise that he never calls home. Everybody says this is normal behavior but I did not expected this lack of communication. I am having a hard time adjusting to this total disappearance, he is only 17!
Can somebody explain why is this and what is the best way to respond and come to terms?Thank you</p>
<p>Our daughter is also a Freshman at Harvard. I don’t believe your experience is unique to Harvard though.
We have been fortunate in that we are communicating with our daughter every day. Although it is just in dribs and drabs. A text here and there, every couple of days a quick phone call etc.
These kids are busy and they are taking in a range of fantastic academic and social opportunities, they are inspired and having the time of their lives.
My suggestion to you is that you tell your son that you miss him and that this transition for him is one for you as well and for your peace of mind you need to have some type of consistent communication with him, not overbearing but just a hey how are you type of thing.
If you don’t wish to do that you can always touch base with his dorm proctor, the proctors are excellent and I am sure would gladly give you a good sense of how he is doing.
I feel your pain! Our daughter is our only child and after 18 years of being very involved in her upbringing it feels very odd not to have that contact.Even our dogs are confused!</p>
<p>Thank you for your kind reply. Definitely it is not an Harvard only phenomenon. I just love all the parents on this thread, and the overall excitement that transpires from these pages and I value their advice… I guess all is well, I just have to give him and myself a little more time… It is a big change for sure, but a very happy one!</p>
<p>My kids are the same way; it’s absolutely normal, it’s part of the “letting go” process a parent has to go through, but it does take a while to get used to the absence of communication. The good news is: your kid is engaged with their classes, homework and friends. If there is a problem or if they need more money, they will call home. FWIW: The most we get are short texts in response to questions like “What class is your favorite?” or “How’s the food?” If you are not already, may I suggest you become friends with your kids on facebook. That way, you can actually see photos of them and be reassured that they are okay.</p>
<p>Was this typical of your relationship when he lived at home? My daughter exchanges texts with her mom and me almost every day. Usually it’s small stuff, like Gibby says. The thing is, we texted like this when she lived at home, too. So the pattern was already established, and we just kept it up without a lot of thought. If I were you, I’d be worried only if this lack of calls was a <em>change</em> from old habits. @Acquarium</p>
<p>Wow, I am getting a lot of responses already. I knew this thread was awesome. The parents communication promptness here amply makes it up for the children’s sluggish one. 
I am looking forward to the Freshman Parent Weekend to see him settled in. Hopefully will meet some of you guys there. Anybody going?</p>
<p>I feel your pain! My son is a sophomore and I don’t get many phone calls. If I haven’t heard from him in a while, I’ll text “hi” and he’ll usually respond. He also texts his younger brother who is still at home and he’ll tell me that he heard from him. </p>
<p>Another subtle way to make contact - I’ll forward (email) interesting or funny articles or videos to him, and he’ll usually respond with a comment. We are lucky that today’s technology gives us a few ways to stay in touch - when I was in college, it was a bi-monthly call on the hallway phone! I’m sure that you’ll find him happy and well at Parent’s Weekend.</p>
<p>I wish. I mean I really wish we could. But we live in Utah. Also, I am a college professor, so it’s hard for me to leave in the middle of a semester. I’m hoping one year soon a professional conference that relates to my field or the school mission will be held in Boston. Then my school will pay for it, and they will encourage me to go. Alas, there is nothing this year.</p>
<p>When my older son went off to college, he experienced extreme homesickness. So, we texted and e-mailed pretty much every day, and Skyped once a week without fail. Skype, for all the technical imperfections, is a pretty good communications tool. I recommend it.</p>
<p>The second semester, the homesickness started to remit a little, but we still texted and e-mailed frequently, and still Skyped.</p>
<p>He’s a junior now, and we’ll text or e-mail a few times per week. Or not. Still trying to Skype once per week, but sometimes that doesn’t work out due to scheduling conflicts. Our younger son joined his older brother this year. So, having his brother nearby, he seems to be experiencing much less homesickness. Nonetheless, we communicate via text and/or e-mail typically a time or two per week, and he joins in on the weekly Skype.</p>
<p>Let me point out, though, that my wife and I initiate communications with our sons just as often as they initiate them with us. Don’t hesitate to send the random tweet or e-mail. Like another poster here, I also will e-mail articles of interest.</p>
<p>We are very fortunate in that we are only live 31/2 hours away. We will be visiting next weekend and will be going to parents weekend. We intend to get to Cambridge once a month.
If you tell me his dorm and room number I will ask our daughter to put a post it note on his door to call his Mother!
Mostly kidding but if you want that I will ask our daughter.
If you use Facebook, there is a class of 2018 parents page that is helpful.</p>
<p>Communication - my son and I are very close and texted quite frequently during high school. When he started Harvard, the communication decreased. I knew this was part of the growing process, but I still missed our discussions. Our main form of communication is through email. This way we both can respond when we have time. Your child’s schedule may be very different from what it was before. They may be up very late doing work/activities and sleeping late in the morning. I usually only text when it is extremely important or if he hasn’t responded to an email in a very long time.</p>
<p>Freshman Parents’ Weekend - is a great time to see your child settled in to college life, but your child may or may not be able to spend a lot of time with you. When I went for DS who is now a Junior, he was quite busy with exams and activities, and sleeping late. It was still great to see my son and meet some of his friends, but time was limited. Although we did not spend a lot of time together, there was still plenty to do without him. It may be different for you and your child, but I just wanted to forewarn you of the possibility of limited time.</p>
<p>Next stop…JPW!!</p>
<p>Greatkid, your offer to have your daughter stick a note to my son dorm door was adorable and tempting.I greatly appreciated it…But then today, thankfully, I talked to him on the phone and turns out that everything is great! He is indeed enjoying living and studying at Harvard VERY much. As Gibby said, the good news is that he is engaged and busy. He sounded so happy. Actually he sounded …noisy. “What is that sound in the background ?I can hardly hear you”, I asked. It turned out that he was shaving with the electric shaver AND playing guitar at the same time while talking to me. I am impressed at his newfound skill at multitasking and utilizing the time efficiently. He must have grown also a new pair of hands!! Harvard is a special transforming place,indeed :)</p>
<p>Just checking in. Always willing to give my invaluable advice and comments My son graduated from Harvard in 2011, and my daughter graduated from Northwestern this past June. Both of them live a plane ride away at the moment, and I miss them both very much. One thing was true for both of them. If either of them was calling every day, something was amiss. When we didn’t hear from them for a week, everything for them was glorious. When kids are freshmen, they are, possibly unwittingly, trying to assert their independence. I find that we speak more now that they are no longer undergrads (son is in grad school; daughter has entered the workforce). For those of you who are waiting for that call or text, think about how your kids are having all kinds of new experiences and have about a million things to do. They still love you; they may just not need you as much as they once did. That’s a good thing.</p>
<p>So, I am looking forward to the parent weekend. Some of you have already gently warned me that the time with son may be limited. I get that, I will try not to be disappointed. It will be a lot of fun no matter what, and my family (husband, little sister and myself), can have a good time by ourselves. We loved Cambridge when we went there to move him into the dorm…No much time with him then, either …
There are plenty of organized programs for us.
All I am hoping to do is, beside enjoying myself, is to have a glimpse at him and finally see with my own eyes that indeed he is doing well there…(this is what I am telling myself all the time when I miss him, that he is happy there, and to see it in person will be so reassuring,)
Any other advice as to what to expect and how to get the most out of this trip? </p>
<p>My favorite thing to do in Cambridge, and for that matter, anywhere I visit, is just walk around, find somewhere to sit and take in the place. There are chairs and benches in the Old Yard, so find a spot to sit to watch the students and take in the atmosphere. Go to the football game if you can…the walk across the river with the crowd headed that way is really festive. If you need restaurant tips, I have a few favorite places. I’m driving up for the day tomorrow to deliver some sweaters and jackets…my son says that his house is cold at night - no heat for a few more weeks.</p>
<p>When this thread was started a few years ago, it was very active, informative and fun. I read it all after my son got admitted and I enjoyed it a lot.The original posters shared a lot with each other, as their children got on from fresman year to graduation… I actually would love to hear from Guitars 101 or Gadad about their children and where they are now, if Harvard really opened doors for them as we are all hoping it would, if all the excitement about the fine education they got there translated in amazing opportunities… Just curious, as I don’ t know what the future will bring to my son and to all of us. For now he seems to enjoy there very much, and that’s good. How are your children, especially the freshmen doing? Still excited that they are at Harvard? Is it turning out the way everybody hoped and expected?</p>