<p>All of my friends and I agree that while home is nice for a break as long as Thanksgiving, winter break is just too much. Don’t get us wrong, we love our parents, but it’s becoming increasingly apparent that most of us get along better in small doses or over the phone. I personally wind up in a bad mood by midafternoon if I spend all morning with my mom. Do you get annoyed with us being in the house and staying up late and sleeping all day and us forgetting to tell you where we’re going? Or are you genuinely glad to have us back for 4 or 5 weeks?</p>
<p>
ohgod YES!!! And I <em>think</em> my son is <em>really</em> glad to be here. Of course the fact that his gf is still here just <em>might</em> have something to do with that…<em>lol</em> ;)</p>
<p>hey I’m in the exact same boat as you OP (kind of weird if you ask me), but a few headbutts here and there still beats ratty/vdub food! :)</p>
<p>Rabo, I laughed at your subject heading! 
I don’t have time to get sick of my kids because neither are staying long enough for that to happen. Mine RARELY come home. Even though they have a month off this break, one was here for 8 days and is already gone for good and the other is only here for 12 and has five to go. So, we really like having them here and it feels too brief. Neither of mine are sleeping late believe it or not. And they still tell us where they are going because even though they are on their own when they live away from home, even including a hemisphere away, they still have to let us know where they will be and call us with the times they are expected or any changes, etc. so that we don’t worry with regard to driving, etc. while they are staying at our house. Actually, tonight, we’re going to a concert with our D who goes to your college. I just spent the last couple of hours helping her with something even. So, yes, we are glad to have you guys back.</p>
<p>i love having the kids around. it’s quiet enough around here all fall, so i’m delighted to have kids in and out of the house both day and night. i am already dreading taking my son to the airport to return to school…it is much harder for me to be home alone than it is to put up with their noise–even if it’s a late night dart tourney that keeps me awake!</p>
<p>I love having them home, however I think my D. is getting a little tired of it–she misses her school friends and really doesn’t keep in touch with anyone locally. We’ve done the eating out, cooking together, shopping, movies, DVD marathons, and I tried to get her to clean out a closet–so she’s ready to move on ;). My son has been busy working, but job is over now that Christmas rush is done. My sleep has been suffering–up till 2 or 3 with the kids and then up at 7 with H. (not that he expects it–just hard to go back to sleep). I may do marathon naps after they both go back to school!</p>
<p>Yes, my kid drives me nuts, stresses me out. After a day or two I was thinking, “OK, I’ve seen my kid. Now take him back. . .” His break is 3 weeks.
Two would be plenty, IMO. I suppose the feeling is mutual. (Is that why my kid is so grumpy–he has to spend time with ME?–The same annoying old Mom who is feeding him, doing his laundry, letting him use my internet connection 24 hours a day, the one who gave birth to him?!?)</p>
<p>I’m not in the least sick of my kid. She’s only here for two weeks, and she spends very little of it with her parents – there have been whole days when I haven’t seen her. I miss her all the time when she’s at school, and I don’t stop missing her when she’s closer but still not around.</p>
<p>I’m not really complaining. This is the way the world works. I’m glad she’s grown up and is developing an adult life; I’m glad she’s strong and independent; I treasure the time she DOES spend with us. But I still miss her. She was constantly at the center of my world for 19 years, and she’s still never far from my thoughts.</p>
<p>JHS - I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m glad he’s home, I’m glad he’s seeing all of his HS friends, I’m glad he’s having his annual New Year’s party here. The only part of his being home that I don’t love is the worrying about his driving again; a campus with almost no cars is a VERY nice thing for a parent in this regard.</p>
<p>I had to laugh though, when I left for work one morning and looked in on him to make sure he’d be okay getting up when he needed to. Groggily he turned to me and said, “Don’t worry, I set two alarms for 1:00”. PM, of course!</p>
<p>And just imagine what it’s like at my house - because of trimester system, D has been home since before Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>Rabo, I love having my kids around for as long as they can be around. My older son (23) left this morning to return to his job in Japan, so I may not see him until next Christmas. I know he is a grown man now, but I still miss him and hate to see him go.</p>
<p>My college student is still home for a few more days. But he mentioned today that, while he likes being home, he is about ready to go back to school. He likes the routine of school and all he is learning there. He did say it took about three breaks at home last year before he got me trained to treat him more like a grown up. He is still working on his dad, but it is getting better. Sometimes it is hard for parents to stop parenting, even though they know their kid is grown and making his/her own decisions now. And that can cause strain in the parent-student relationship… But we learn. :)</p>
<p>I love having my S home. If he wants to sleep late, why not? He doesnt expect us to be quiet. He tends to be asleep half the day, then out with HS friends at night (except tonight as they are all here for poker), so he’s really not underfoot. He’s great company and fun to talk to. My graduate D was home for three days, and having them both together was wonderful!</p>
<p>But then, I never looked forward to summer vacation ending, either, so I’m just weird that way.</p>
<p>My D is home for the first extended period of time (on a leave term) since the end of summer 2005. She goes to school on a quarter system and was “on” the whole school year sophomore year and left for her fall study abroad a couple of days after she got home from sophmore summer. So glad she is home because now she gets to walk her own dog:D</p>
<p>When she came home after her study abroad program, this past fall, it was me who did not have time to see her because I was balancing work, classes and an internship. </p>
<p>Our house was literally hotel Sybbie because it was like today is tuesday so __________ will be staying over (we hosted 5 of her school friends who had stop overs at JKF and stayed at our home at least 1 night before catching a connecting flight home). I cooked a meal for the first time since she went back to school after winter break at the beginning of 2006. Christmas day was the first day walking though my house and only seeing the people who actually live here.</p>
<p>That being said, like JHS, I really did miss my D and she said she really missed being home. Next week, she is off to her internship and studying for the LSAT and I will be back in school and my routine in a minute. I am happy to know that she has her own routine, catching up with her friends, doing her thing and finally moved her suitcase out of my living room (I had to remind her that she is going to be here for a while)!!</p>
<p>Rabo, I’m really happy that my S is home. He sleeps until lunch time if he does not have plans for the day. It does not bother me. In fact, the noise (more like yelling) that he and his younger brother make while playing video games is music to my ear. </p>
<p>Like garland, I did not look forward to the ending of summer vacations, either. In fact, I used to wonder why other moms do.</p>
<p>S doesn’t seem to mind spending quiet a lot of time with us. He and the GF are at our house all the time, we watch movies together, have dinner, play board games, it’s pretty amazing actually. It doesn’t look like he is sick of us yet, and of course we will be very sad to see him leave next week.</p>
<p>My vacation is about three weeks, but I like being home. I only had four days off during Thanksgiving, including the weekend, which isn’t enough time for many students to go home. My parents are both at work all day, so it isn’t as if it’s three weeks straight of “family time.” I especially like spending time with my sisters and brothers when we don’t have much stress to deal with (such as demanding summer jobs or school work). My parents aren’t sick of me, yet, either. We’ve never fought very much, though, and they’re used to having kids in the house.</p>
<p>Nope, never! ;)</p>
<p>We are thrilled to have DD home, and we’re having a wonderful time with her. DH has been sick for the past couple of days, so today we all stayed home and just watched football together. I guess I should re-phrase that … DH and I watched football while DD slept on the couch … she must have been so very tired after sleeping till only 11 a.m. 
. While DD napped, DH and I snickered that she could definitely get an “A” in sleeping class if it was offered at her school. She’s been having a great time catching up with friends, reading some books, getting in a few hours at her job where she’s worked the past couple of years, and just enjoying home. When I suggested her organizational skills could be put to good use in tackling the pantry and the CD/DVD closet, she did a bit of moaning and groaning and said she never should have proven she could do such a good job. Too late!</p>
<p>He’s the only one that can get his invalid grandfather to the toilet and then off of it within 1 hour. We are not looking forward to next week when son will be leaving once again.</p>
<p>I could never get tired of my kid! It’s great having him home.</p>