Sadness at the end of winter break

sac
Mon, 17 Jan 2005 21:30:12 +0000

The last night – when he was out with friends till three, though he had not packed and had to get up before eight – I lay awake and remembered why it is good for kids to be living at college rather than home.:)

However, I feel a real sadness because I realize how easily he slipped back into the house, his room, our life, and that there may only be one or two more visits in which that is true. He is establishing his life elsewhere, and he will begin to feel more like a visitor with each return.

This was brought home to me when he and I and my daughter went out to dinner and, during conversation about a relative who may come visit, my 24-year-old daughter said: “Will she be staying at your house?” The three of us were suddenly silent, until I commented that “your house” sounded really strange coming from my daughter, who grew up in this house. She said it sounded really strange to her, too, but she needed a way to distinguish it from her own house now. We settled on: “The house.” It won’t be long before it is “the house” rather than “my house” for my son, as well.