Home for the Holidays: Tips for when your college student returns
Home for the Holidays Series: This year, local reporters and editors are using Thanksgiving week to share our favorite holiday traditions and recipes with you, our readers.
Thanksgiving, and the holiday season in general, is a time to reflect on what we’re thankful for. Gratitude can do wonders in life when we focus on what we have, and not on what we don’t.
At the top of my list each year are family and friends. What’s more important in this life than the relationships we build?
At the very top of my list are my daughters.
Parents beam when they think of their children, and I’m no exception. I’m especially beaming this year.
My oldest daughter, Pilar, graduated valedictorian in May and was accepted into the Honors College and Nursing Program at Purdue University. (She wants to be a psychiatric nurse practitioner. We’re going to write a book one day.)
Lourdes is right behind her. She plans to graduate a year early, at the end of her junior year. (I’ll be planning another party. Yay!)
Dulce, the youngest, is a freshman in high school and doing great on the varsity basketball team. (It’s so fun to watch her!)
I’m one proud mama.
It seems like just yesterday they were tiny little “ducklings,” following me around, always at my side. My grandma would tell me I was having the best years of my life and didn’t even know it. Maybe she was right.
Looking back, I see what she meant. Sure, it was hard at times when they were little and needed so much care. Now it’s easier (in ways) as they’ve gained some independence. It’s fun now that they’re older, too. We can have real conversations, for one.
Who knows what the holiday season will bring us this year? We’re sure to get together with family: my parents, my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece and possibly Uncle Larry (though he’s a grandpa himself now). There’s sure to be turkey, ham and all the fixings. We’ll unwrap our presents, one person at a time, youngest to oldest, and the kids will cringe when they have to wait. Ha!
Life is what you make it, and this year let’s make it big, with the people we love. They’re what matters most.
Now that my children are nearly grown and one has already left the nest, I want to share some tips for when college students come home for the holidays:
Plan travel arrangements well ahead of time
Create a cozy abode
Stock the kitchen (with their favorite foods)
Don’t over-schedule
Give them space
Let them sleep
Negotiate rules and curfews (after all, they're adults now)
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
— Contact reporter Michelle Patrick at mpatrick@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Home for the Holidays: Tips for when your college student returns
