<p>The house is back to “normal”. My D who has been home since Thanksgiving went back early this morning.
I was ready but it has been harder on her Dad this time. I was surprised how we had gotten used to not having her home and her presence once again was hugely felt. I love her and love having her but it is nice to settle back into the routine again.
She seems to have grown so much in a few short months away. I was blown away at her maturity in dealing with the outside world and with adults. She isn’t a kid anymore. Though the sibling dynamics were back to old routine fairly quickly.
She kept busy and it seemed like we didn’t have enough time to just talk.
Anyone else’s kid go back yet?</p>
<p>Same here - we just put him on the plane today and told him to call us when he got back to the dorm. When he called, it was obvious there were lots of people around him. Just the gang, he said, going out for dinner.</p>
<p>Oh, my kid went back today…our third post Xmas/NewYear departure. I just got off the phone with her about 5 minutes ago…because she forgot to call me and tell me she was “back home” safe and sound…she was.</p>
<p>Like fine wine, these separations age well. She was adorable with her “little” brother and all of her nephews and nieces this holiday season. She says she loves to come home, just because it’s the only place she can veg out…and boy, does she veg out, but God bless her, she kept her grades way up, again. So if she wants to sit in front of our TV and watch the Comedy Channel 12 hours a day, wrapped in her blanky, why should I complain? She’s home. She said she’d miss me when she hugged me and said goodbye about noon today. And promised to call, but forgot. She has an incredible boyfriend. I’m ready for grandchildren.</p>
<p>Mom60 - Our soph D, who also had been home since the Tuesday BEFORE Thanksgiving, returned to her LAC this morning. Classes start Wednesday. She was extremely anxious to get started again. There are positives and negatives to the 6 week break. On my end, the positives far outweighed the negatives, but I don’t dare ask her opinion after she returned to her friends and her own space today.</p>
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Ooooo - driver lives dangerously. :eek:</p>
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Oh my, I just had all these cute little nieces and nephews running around in my house for a week—and I want some more of my own!! Grandchildren! Yes!!</p>
<p>One of my sons went back today, and he called when he arrived at the airport in Chicago. I told him I needed him to call again when he gets to the dorm, and he thought that was pretty unnecessary, so I said, well, okay, just e-mail me then. I want to know he made it all the way to campus, not just to the city, silly mom that I am. It was fun having him home, much more fun than it was the last couple of years when he lived here full time. School has been good for him.</p>
<p>Yes, mstee. It’s so sweet now, it really is. Mine was SO ready to go when the time came…and she’s so happy to be home now, too, which is wonderful. And I love it when the nieces and nephews go up to the attic and drag out her old toys! Oh, what karma.</p>
<p>Yes DD left yesterday. She has winter training in FL so she is staying 3 miles from the beach but about 850 miles from me!! She got in on the 17th of December and had to leave so soon. I miss my baby girl. Spring break is the week of conferences/zones so I won’t be seeing her til June, for her little bro’s graduation. She made Dean’s List so I am proud of her but miss her so. </p>
<p>I think I am going to spend June just bawling.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Our D flew the nest this morning, with instructions to call us before boarding, after collecting her luggage at that end, and then after walking into her dorm. I guess we did not grow up during that first semester. She did all three, but also extracted from me a promise to call her at 11:00 p.m. to remind her to take her antibiotic. She got me there-- as her 11:00 p.m. is a time zone behind us!</p>
<p>We definitely did not have enough time, as she was home for only 3 weeks, (and this was after 3 months). Ahhhh…now for the long wait until Spring Break.</p>
<p>After a 3 week break, Son left Sunday late and it took him over 26 hours to reach his school. He hates the Chicago airport with a passion! He calls it a bottleneck. He texted me all along the way until he changed his sim card to his US company in Chicago so that I am sure he could call his friends in the states. I got a last message at 4:30 am my time that he had reached his final destination. I was devastated at this leaving but I am over it now. I won’t see him until I visit his campus in July and then he comes home in late August for a month and has his wisdom teeth extracted. The beauty of it is that he popps up on my desktop several times a day to say, “Hi Mama!” But he has his own life and is making his way in it.</p>
<p>I have to say that I was ready and happy to go back to work today. 3 teenagers in the house for 2 1/2 weeks, with a lot of rain and a lot of friends out of town on trips, got a bit long. Since we are taking our “big” vacations in February and spring break weeks, we stayed close to home but it was a bit too long. Driver, I admire your willingness to indulge the zoning-out. In our house, it comes with a kind of glumness and messiness that drives me kind of crazy…</p>
<p>I amused myself by running a lot and reading Prep. Anyone else out there read it? I picked it up because it was on the NY Times best 10 of 2005 list. Now I have started another on the list, “On Beauty”…</p>
<p>S has two more weeks at home (a month total), while we are all back to work/school tomorrow. H and I will probably try to make it to his campus over Presidents’ Weekend for a visit. It’s nice having him home, but in some ways, it’s a bit of a stress because he is always wanting to borrow the car and I never know if he will be home for dinner and I worry when he’s out on the road. Also, I still feel responsible for his “safety” on a day to day basis. Like when he went camping last week before the big storm, I had to remind him not to camp too close to a creek, not to leave food out, put down a tarp, etc… Now, if he were away at college camping, I wouldn’t have known about it until after the fact (probably) and wouldn’t have worried. So, there’s that that I won’t miss. Oh, and the mess in his room! But, him, yeah. He’s mellowed quite a bit from the high school days, and he’s more confident in the world, as Mom60 noted with her daughter. It’s hard to believe (still) that he’s old enough to survive so far away from Mom and Dad. Wish I could get one more day with S as a 5 year old.</p>
<p>Driver, with all fondness ;).</p>
<p>“A is for Alito
B is for Bush
C is for Cheney
D is for Depraved Democrats,
E is for Elephant”…etc…</p>
<p>Students not due back here until after MLK’s birthday. Campus is empty. On the plus side I can actually find a place to eat lunch on State St.</p>
<p>Son is coming back to NoVA today from NJ after spending New Years with USC friends. He’ll he back to LA on Friday. Classes start Monday and his internship on Tuesday.</p>