Very much looking forward to this Thanksgiving. Our three kids away expressed a strong preferrence for immediate family only when we told them of an invite. So no schlepping, and being on our best behavior, or playing the host, and being on our best behavior. We can wear our comfy clothes, have bad table manners, be our normally obnoxious selves, watch football, and have a grand good time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
@latichever Sounds wonderful!
great article, bopper! I particularly loved these lines:
"For me, the “my house, my rules” axiom doesn’t work, because I wanted this to be, now and forever, our house.
I want our family home to always be just that, all of our home. I want to it be a stress free zone in a stressful world, a place they look forward to returning to."
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am so envious of those who have their kids at home already… mine won’t arrive till 10 pm Wednesday, and he goes back Sunday.
“What time do you want me home?”
“That is up to you, but we will be leaving at 10:00 tomorrow so I think by 1:00am?”
Adventures in travel.
My daughter was heading home for Thanksgiving late Wednesday. She lives in Seattle, and took the bus to the ferry, and I was to pick her up from the Bainbridge terminal - on our side of Puget Sound.
My oldest son and I arrived just as my daughter texted to say she was almost ready to disembark. We could see the ferry a few hundred feet off of the dock. People got off, we waited. No daughter.
She called to say she was off the ferry, and all she saw was buses. The Bainbridge ferry terminal has buses on one side, and cars on the other. I told her she was on the wrong side.
She said, no, there was no car parking on either side. Only buses.
Son said there was another area where you can get off the ferry, so he walked off to check if she was there.
While he was gone I had an epiphany.
I texted her to ask someone what city she was in.
She texted back “Bremerton. Oh.”
Bremerton, which is about an hour south of Bainbridge, three hours south of home.
Both ferries depart from the same terminal in Seattle, but end up at far different locations.
She took refuge in a nearby Starbucks, had a chai latte, and waited an hour for us to make the long drive to a city I was unfamiliar with.
This will be a family Thanksgiving to live in infamy!
You have her to hug for a couple days now @LadyArwyn, Happy Thanksgiving!
DS is now in NYC, having spent Thanksgiving with DH’s family outside Philly. He took the bus to NYC and a subway up to Columbia where a friend from HS is attending. He texted me from Central Park that he’s having a blast. It’s so bittersweet. On the one hand, I’m sad that we didn’t get to see him for Thanksgiving, but so happy that he’s competent to organize the trip with his friend and to get to the city and uptown by himself (okay, so he did need me to remind him of the existence of greyhound and we did take him to NYC a few years ago for a day so it’s not entirely foreign). We’ve raised an independent, capable young man. His sister continues to have problems (DD HS '17) so we’re definitely not looking at that outcome for her, at least not as an 18-year old. I can’t wait to see him on Dec 20. We’re all meeting up at his cousin’s in DC and then going up to Philly for a week for Xmas. DS will come home for 3 weeks before he returns to school.
Really, people? No one has had anything to say since 11/27? I can’t believe that my tale of DS making it to NYC from Philly by himxelf was the last word around here!!!
I guess I have something else to say. DS is over the moon excited because a good friend of his, who is currently a HS senior, was accepted to SS-LAC as a Questbridge student so DS will have a friend from home with him next year! Hi friend called DS when he found out before he even called his mother!
That’s great, @PhxRising! I’m just bogged down in finals right now. I’ll be done by Friday, and planning to come home Sunday. Just one more week to go!
Wow, @PhxRising, I must have missed the notification buried among others. Sounds like your son had an amazing trip, I’m kind of envious of him!
Hang in there @albert69, you have done well this first semester.
For me, 12 days and counting! Haven’t seen our daughter since August 23, except for on Skype of course. I can hardly stand the wait. I am praying that the weather stays warm between Boston and Chicago until after the 18th and that she makes her very short connection time in Chicago for her overseas flight to Asia. She had a wonderful time at her grandmother’s for Thanksgiving and then at a large family Christmas party that is always held the Saturday after Thanksgiving when many are in town for Thanksgiving. It was a first for her, a holiday with her grandmother. She has done very well making it on her own this first semester. Proud of her.
That is great that your son was able to have a great trip to NYC phx! Mine came home from NYC for only 3 days and went back sick so I have been knotted up with anxiety as he misses classes and feels awful going into finals season. Parenting is not for the faint of heart!
I went more than two months without seeing her in person at all, but since then it feels pretty regular - family weekend in early November, Thanksgiving at the end, Holiday month-long break in just a couple of weeks.
She’s very happy. From what I’m told, it’s everything she hoped it would be, maybe more.
D is excited because one of her best friends is applying to her LAC for next year. Her friend would need to qualify for the scholarships the school gives out, but she has a good shot. She finds out in January or February if she is invited to compete for the scholarship. One another note, only one more week until D is home for winter break. She is looking forward to a break from homework, visiting her friends, and skiing! We will get to see her some, but knowing her she will have too many things to do to fit into 3-1/2 weeks!
I’m very much looking forward to the holiday break as I haven’t seen my D since she left in late August. The past four months have been easier than I expected for two reasons. The first is that we hear from her frequently. Phone calls are rare but frequent IMs, text messages, photos and emails have kept us up to date with her activities. I love all the modern communication options! The second is that she seems happy and engaged in many activities and we are thrilled with all the opportunities she has available to her.
Here is a question that I hope some can help with… what are possible stocking stuffers or small gifts for a college freshman that is living thousands of miles from home? Anything we get must be carried on an airplane back to school and then dealt with at the end of spring semester if not consumed so I don’t want anything bulky or heavy. But, I don’t want to just give her cash and/or gift cards either. Any ideas or suggestions?
Our stocking stuffers are usually small things in general. She’ll get chocolate, a tea ball (for loose leaf tea), socks (joke in our family, you always get socks), a guitar capo, and maybe movie tickets. Truthfully, she has everything she needs for the dorm already. If there is a movie theater in the town she goes to school that you culd get a gift card for, that would be a nice present. It’s easy to carry and would allow her some mental relief during the next semester.
Our stockings sound similar @mtrosemom and I have already purchased chocolate, teas, and favorite hot chocolate mix. Thank you for the socks suggestion! It reminded me that she wanted some fun socks so I found some appropriate themed socks online. Does anyone else have additional small gift or stocking ideas for a college freshman far from home?
Just 1 or 2 more calc tests to go and then I’ll be DONE! Sooo close. (Yet soo far.)
@woodsmom we have the same situation, haven’t seen our daughter since August, but we have had a lot of contact via texting on Skype, photos, etc. And it does sure help when they are happy and involved.
We do similar stocking stuffers, and like you all gifts have to be able to go back in her suitcase with her. We did the tea, chocolate, socks, plus hair ties, a new hairbrush, and we are still looking for a new cell phone case. We may add a little iTunes card.
I found a neat little adapter that plugs into a regular outlet and gives a regular outlet plus two usb charging ports. I’m hoping it might be useful when outlets are scarce when she’s studying.