<p>…on the lighter side…as our kids return from college for the holidays, I am sure we parents observe changes, and hear interesting stories of our kids’ adventures. Please volunteer them here!</p>
<p>I’ll start…#1 son arrived home late last night, and the first thing that I observed of his presense back home was that the toilet seat was up this morning before I headed off to work. Some things never change.</p>
<p>We are having a completely kosher Thanksgiving. My daughter has become “frum” (observant). The rest of the household is on the heathen side. I am willing to accomodate- although she and her friend will be eating on paper plates. Have to kasher the oven tonight.</p>
<p>DD got back last night, dinner with grandparents & other family, as we all laughed and joked and laughed some more, she giggled & got sparkly eyed, commenting,“no wonder my friends don’t understand my humour, we’re sick :D,” It was meant as a good thing! SO fun to have her back home, we stayed up until after 3am</p>
<p>1st thing I notice when I see my S is that his hair is longer than it ever is when we pay for his haircuts–he sees no point in having it cut “on his own dime.” Things may have changed this year tho, with the new GF 
We think that’s where he’s spending thanksgiving instead of our good friends with whom he’s spent that past 2 Thanksgivings but he just says “with friends.”</p>
<p>My sophomore son is staying east for Thanksgiving (visiting his Uncle) but while he was on a layover this morning, he sent me an extensive list of food demands for when he comes home for Christmas!! I laughed–he’s a little homesick, or else he was really hungry!!!</p>
<p>My S also has longer hair (which I assumed would happen and I made an appt for Saturday morning anticipating he’d need it). He also went out to the movies with his girlfriend (senior in high school) about four hours after he got home. He was just starting to walk out the door-and my husband and I said, “Um…back on our turf for the weekend…where are you going??” I’m here doing his mountain of laundry.</p>
<p>S is spending Thanksgiving weekend at the cousin’s house. Has another offer at a family friend’s if the first house gets too chaotic. </p>
<p>Makes me very happy he picked a college near family and friends rather than the one in Santa Fe, where we know no one.</p>
<p>S2 is always a surprise when we see him. Sometimes his head is shaved, sometimes a full beard, sometimes beautifully coiffed. This time he has a heavy unshaven look.</p>
<p>S1 can finally tie his hair back in a ponytail. He appears to be wearing his retainer. He said he’s shaving tomorrow. He had to bum $5 from his roommate for bus fare to the airport this AM because he had no cash, until he found the transit card I sent him, left over from my trip for move-in festivities. He said he has not withdrawn anything from his checking account since he set it up in mid-September. This means he has spent <$150 this quarter.</p>
<p>He has chosen not to drink, though he says the folks who party are really fun to have intellectual arguments with. </p>
<p>Ought to ask if he has deposited his paychecks!</p>
<p>D got home tonight with the last minute addition of her BF. This is his second visit since things got “serious” in March. The first thing he did was open the refrigerator. They are currently plastered to the sofa in front of what appears to be a Family Guy marathon.</p>
<p>At least he seems more comfortable this time. I think he’s afraid of me and her dad!</p>
<p>H brought son home this evening, OOS sister-in-law’s family arrived. Son has a bad cough- for a week he said- currently 3 MD’s in house (2 more for dinner tommorrow when a family visits). I’ll let H or uncle do the honors of listening and deciding treatment needed. He actually just did 2 loads of laundry tonight instead of Sunday- and remembered to dry the second load, fold the first. Still won’t answer questions from me, sigh.</p>
<p>Wis75. about the questions, you just need to get someone else to ask them. S (and H, too, for that matter) are much more talkative in a social setting. Try to be in the same room when one of the uncles or cousins asks the standard ‘how are things going at college’ questions.</p>
<p>Mine came home last night … oooh he looks good. Really really fit. With a turkey trot finish to prove it, and a body fat percentage to seriously envy. (D1 athletic aspirants take note – he can’t afford the calories to have a beer, never mind the pizza during conditioning season!) I have not seen him since mid-September and he hasn’t been home since August. And then he was just here for a week or so.</p>
<p>He went out to visit a friend last evening, and I woke up at 2 am thinking someone had started the turkey already. House smelled great … something cooking. This morning, I went down to put the turkey in – quite certain that no one else had done it – to find that he’d made his special balsamic chicken at 2 am and left the pan in the sink!</p>
<p>He’s home!!!</p>
<p>THE GOOD- My son’s fraternity had their paddling ceremony the night before he came home. My S refused to participate because he did not want to be guilty of assault! Took a lot of heat from the brothers (he has been in this Fraternity for a year and last year was on the receiving end of the paddle. News to us.) but held his ground. He said it is his goal to have this ceremony eliminated from the house! WOW, he’s growing up!!!</p>
<p>THE BAD- He was heading into the city to meet GF. She is working the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He got about 2 miles from home and realized he forgot the easypass. Got a call around 7 pm…he also forgot his $$. SIGH…still a bit dopey I’m afraid!</p>
<p>THE UGLY- His bedroom floor. Nuff said!</p>
<p>cptofthehouse–we must have the same S2. This time he came home with a shaved head and the unshaven look. And he has such beautiful dark curls! sigh!</p>
<p>
Or has just been using his debit card instead of cash. ;)</p>
<p>My S too came home with longer hair and unshaven face. He keeps saying he thinks he needs a haircut (hasn’t been cut since August). I am going to make him an appointment in the morning to have it done. Last year it was the shaved head, so I think I like the longer hair better.</p>
<p>corranged,
He said he has not taken money out of his bank account since it was established. (It took him a month to deposit his first paycheck!) He has a prepaid card which I can access, and he bought textbooks and a video game online since heading off to school. </p>
<p>He’s just that cheap.</p>
<p>D1 and boyfriend du jour are glued to tv in family room. sigh…I’m heading to bed and he leaves for Iowa early in the morning.</p>
<p>We had several young adults in our house tonight. After the dinner, they settled in the living room and were having a lovely chat. Not a single spoken word, though. All I could hear was the “tap, tap, tap” sound of their laptop keyboards - the ladies were having a Facebook chat :eek:! I counted seven laptops in our house tonight - that’s a new record!</p>