<p>Younger D will be home Monday night. S flying home on Tuesday and older D flies in late Wednesday night. I can’t wait to have them together again. Everyone will be going in a different direction, but it will be so wonderful. Getting together with extended family for Thanksgiving Day. BC game Thursday night to watch. Go Eagles. Fun, food and drink for all. Grandpa’s 80th birthday dinner on Friday night. More college football on Saturday. Shopping, eating and catching up for all of us. Sunday evening both Ds leave and S flies back Monday morn. In a blink of an eye, they are gone again. Boy I will miss them. Why do they grow up so fast? If I could just turn back the clock and have them all home, sitting at the kitchen table doing their homework. That’s not too much to ask, is it?</p>
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<p>Thanks, dogwood, for the mental image. I am now sitting here blubbering like a baby.</p>
<p>Can’t wait until Tuesday night when D flies in from Boston. Geesh! I miss her!</p>
<p>S is home Weds afternoon. Sister is coming home from Dallas Tuesday night. Will spend good part of weekend to/from the airport. Going back on Sat. and then Sunday. Thanksgiving is at my house. Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend. Next year both S’s and my niece will be away. Yes, I will miss them. Younger S sits with us and watches endless sports. Didn’t know BC was on Thursday night. Brother and SIL are BC grads. Blucroo - Where in Boston is your D?</p>
<p>BC vs. Miami: Visions of Flutie again:)</p>
<p>Instead of S coming home, we’re leaving on Tuesday to go down to UMiami and spend T’day there. We will be at the Miami/BC game and then head to Key West for the rest of the weekend. Go Canes!</p>
<p>I don’t mean to “burst the bubble” of those of us waiting for kids to come home , but Thanksgiving break is notorious for being a tough transition for parents of Freshmen.</p>
<p>I had been told that Brandeis used to send out a very good letter about this issue. Does anyone have a copy of it?</p>
<p>I found the following advice from Western in Canada…where they’ve already had their Thanksgiving break:</p>
<p>Stress and Pressure - Thanksgiving Break:
Thanksgiving break is often a crisis point in the first semester at university. Early feedback on school work may not look good and papers and exams are looming ahead…Your child may need to come home and recover from the stress and pressure she is under at school.
The first semester at university demands personal and academic adjustments that will test your childs confidence and force him or her to accept the consequences of his or her actions (or inaction!). </p>
<p>What to Do :
Try to be sympathetic. Let him/her know that you understand how difficult the adjustment to university can be.
Make it clear to him/her what level of involvement you expect from her in the familys holiday plans: We are all having Thanksgiving dinner together, and I expect you to be a part of our celebration from three until about seven oclock. </p>
<p>What to Avoid :
Taking on his/her problem and trying to fix it yourself.
Telling your child what to do: If youd stay home and study for your exams or work on your paper instead of going out every night, you wouldnt be in this jam.
Reorganizing your holiday weekend around your childs erratic schedule or nagging her about being involved with the family. This will only make you feel exasperated and resentful… </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.uwo.ca/hfs/housing/residence/parents/october.htm[/url]”>http://www.uwo.ca/hfs/housing/residence/parents/october.htm</a></p>
<p>my-3-sons, It is nice that your S agreed to this. My S let me know that we are not to make plans to have Thanksgiving at any relatives homes (those that live in anther state) b/c he needs to be home and he needs to see his old hs friends. He could hardly contain himself the last 2 days b/c he is so excited about coming home. He arrives late this evening!</p>
<p>2boysima, Thank you for the heads up letter from Brandeis. I have already told my son how long he needs to sit at the Thanksgiving Day table with his relatives. He already had other ideas.</p>
<p>Just to clarify…the info. in my post #26 is not from Brandeis. It’s from Western in Canada. Maybe someone has a copy of the Brandeis letter??</p>
<p>My senior daughter is flying home Sunday and will be home for just over a week and then going to Kenya and then will be back a couple of days before Christmas. Freshman son will be home Tuesday night or sometime Wednesday. He had not figured that out when we talked last.</p>
<p>Digimedia - where in Africa is your son going? My daughter figured out a way to layover in London for a week to visit two friends doing study abroads there before going to visit college friend and her parents for 2 1/2 weeks in Kenya. Her visa just came yesterday!</p>
<p>I’ll be making cookies for my daughter - chocolate with peanut butter chips- and cleaning the kids bathroom. Those are the two things that make her happy. For son I will make two loaves of pumpkin bread. One for Thanksgiving and one for him to take back with him.</p>
<p>We are going to my sister in laws on T-day and there will be a houseful of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Friday we’ll have a repeat up here with the addition of four more relatives. Both will stick around most of Friday but daughter usually gets together with HS friends Friday night. Who knows what son will do. His dog really needs some pets from his boy.</p>
<p>2boyima, sorry, you were clear. I just misread your post.</p>
<p>What makes my son happy when he comes home is if I 1) don’t talk his ear off, and 2) let him borrow my car.</p>
<p>The car part is easy.</p>
<p>Our deal on being home for Thanksgiving is that everyone gets to come home freshman year, then all bets are off! Therefore this year both boys are flying to grandma’s house (where we will meet them), and next year we’ll be back home since D will be a freshman. We’re lucky enough to have the boys in the midwest where flying to the east coast isn’t too big a deal. Since I haven’t seen either of them since August/September respectively, I CANNOT wait for next Wednesday. This will be a big deal Thanksgiving for us, since their Aunt, Uncle and cousins just moved back east and this will be the first Thanksgiving with the whole extended family (on my side) in many, many years. And since the cousins range in age from 2-21 it should be a lot of fun. I think there will be a lot of eating, playing and just hanging out. Throw in 13 seats to a hockey game Friday night and all will be well! Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy your kids and your families. It may be a short break, but remember, they’ll all be home for a longer break soon!</p>
<p>Since D can’t get off work for Thanksgiving, we are going down to Portland to see her and stay for 3 nights ( her sister is staying a 4th night and coming back on the train)
I haven’t seen her since July& that wasn’t long since she was just coming here to stay with her sister- while her dad & I took off.
It will be fun- we all really like Portland and since we are driving we can bring the dog. I just hope ( ohpleasegod) that it will be dry for the drive down- I hate driving on the freeway for hours and I really hate driving in the rain.
Her roommates have family in Oregon, so I don’t know how much they will be around-but I am looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner buffet at the Kennedy school- our traditional movie afterwards & lots of looking at Powells ( a huge bookstore)</p>
<p>One of our long standing Thanksgiving traditions is that Christmas wish lists have to be on the table - before any turkey is served - it does make for some interesting conversation too LOL.</p>
<p>We did spend one Thanksgiving in Florida - at Gramma’s house - it was awesome - even tho our guy could not be there - he spent the holiday with his girlfriend’s family - so that was good. Gramma LOVED it and we got some special time with out gal - but the Xmas list still had to be on the table LOL.</p>
<p>He is home! We had a nice family dinner together. I cooked his favorite meal! He did not come home with a bunch of dirty laundry-only a couple of dirty things. I was almost a little disappointed, LOL. He is getting ready to leave and meet up with friends tonight. Fortunately, everyone was required to eat at home with family first!</p>
<p>S won’t be home until Xmas break–4 more weeks. (Thanksgiving isn’t big for us, we’re far from family, H is working, not into cooking or football. . .)</p>
<p>When he gets here it’s gonna be: #1 Haircut and #2 House/yardwork --payback for the mess he left in his room in Aug. </p>
<p>He’s enjoying being away. We love having him gone.<br>
His two-year-old sister plans to meet him at the door to give him his velveteen rabbit.</p>
<p>My baby just got home! She looks tired and sounds sick, but otherwise is happy.</p>
<p>Her room is on the agenda as well. I informed her of that during the car ride home. :)</p>