5 Tips to Maximize Your Kid’s Home-From-College Weekends (Published in Kveller)

welcome home rosesDropping my son off at college and driving away was harder than 24 hours of labor with an epidural that didn’t take, and lots of pushing, culminating in a messy C-section. I’m not kidding. At least that time, he came home with me. I’ve never sent a kid off to college before, and I couldn’t wait for his first weekend back at home.

I dove headfirst into obsessive and irrational homecoming preparations. I scrubbed his room and bathroom and laundered his sheets and towels with extra fragrant softeners. In the back of my mind, I knew he either wouldn’t notice, or hate the allergy-inducing scents, but I needed to feel like I was controlling something (and my younger daughter already warned me not to focus all my energy on her). I even shopped for his favorite foods, vaguely acknowledging that he would likely sleep through breakfast and lunch. I stopped myself before ordering a “welcome home” balloon bouquet, realizing that he’s an 18-year-old boy and that my behavior would not only freak him out but his sister as well.

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