Fall Break

 

After being at college for 43 days, my son had a "fall break."  (I didn't realize it came up so quickly; I honestly thought the first time he would come home would be for Thanksgiving break.)  Since it was relatively brief, I wasn't sure he'd want to come home.  (He has definitely taken to college life; especially when he can spend his weekends roaming NYC.)  He did and so on Friday, my husband and I went to pick him up after his (one) class.  (He had said he could skip it since choir is "zero credit," but I thought he should do it and for once he agreed with me!)

His class ended at 2:30, so we arranged to pick him up at three in the stadium parking lot.  No surprise: it was rainy/overcast. What was (sort of) surprising was the amount of traffic at that time of day.  (I was really hoping it wouldn't be that bad.)  Waze took me on the highway, then off, then back on.  When I was breezing along the turnpike, Waze had me get off and I followed "her" (my current "voice" is female; I wish they would bring back Cookie Monster) direction as I had been sorry in the past not to.  This took us by the airport, which seemed to have more traffic than the turnpike.  I *thought* we could be getting back on the highway, but instead she took us through local roads, which I was NOT at all familiar with and not comfortable.  FINALLY she did put us on the parkway, which was REALLY packed, but we only had one exit to go before we got off and onto another highway that I am (much too) familiar with and from there we quickly got home.  

The son who left home was definitely different that the one who left back in August.  And not just different in a physical way:  his hair was bleached blondish when he left and is now jet black (thank goodness he had sent me a selfie earlier in the week or I wouldn't have recognized him, even though I've seen him with dyed black hair before) and he was sporting new small silver hoops in his ears (I wasn't thrilled when he got his ears pierced the day after his 18th birthday, but...).  There was a different air about him.  Dare I say he's matured in the short time that he's been away?'

Of course, I really didn't see my son that much even though he was home from late Friday afternoon till mid-day Tuesday.  He wanted to go for a drive Friday; both before and after dinner.  (He said he misses driving, but he's definitely NOT ready to take a car to campus.  He has little to no highway driving experience and the highways in the NY metro area are INSANE.  He's going to have to do it sometime, but for now the car stays at home.)  Being a teen, he sleeps in the mornings, whereas if I get up at 7, I've slept late!  While he slept on Saturday, I went to volunteer at the thrift shop.  (Since I hadn't been there in a LONG time and I had some donations.)  By the time I got home (just before 1), he was up, but ready to go meet some friends who were also home from school.  (There weren't that many.)  He came home for dinner only because:  I made pot roast (one of his favorites) and the friends he had met up with had other evening plans.  (Which was fine with me since it was yet again another rainy Saturday night...it would be nice to have a weekend that was not filled with rain...we haven't had one since Labor Day weekend!)  Sunday, I stayed home in the morning, hoping that when he got up, he could help me with the Halloween decorations before he spent the day with his girlfriend.  (She is a senior in high school several miles away.)  He helped me a little (not as much as I would have liked), before he headed out and I knew I wouldn't see him until later that night.  (I purposely did not have dinner plans.)  Monday, I was off to work and he and his father finished outdoor decorating before he headed out to do some shopping/exploring during the afternoon.  When I got home from work, my husband had made a casserole (another one of my son's favorites) and we had dinner together, before my son went out again to just "drive".  

I was able to work from home on Tuesday.  I did laundry early in the morning (so my son would have clean clothes to take back with him) and packed up some snacks for him to take.  (Some healthy, some not so.)  After a late morning conference call, we jumped in the car and took him back to school.  It was sunny when we left and traffic was tolerable.  There were a few drops of rain from a passing cloud (because it ALWAYS rains when we are there) before we dropped him off at the dorm.  He jumped out of the car; we jumped out and give him some quick hugs and it was back on the road to home.  (A trek which was one of the quickest and clearest we've ever done.  Round trip was under 2 hours, which is how it SHOULD be, but never is.)

I have to say, when he went off to college, it was weird NOT having him in the house.  When he was home on break it was weird HAVING him in the house.  (What does that say about us?)  He was glad to be home, but he was also glad to be back on campus.  Something I totally get.  He loves us, but he loves his independence.  Bridging the gap between the two worlds is a little strange for all of us. The family dynamic has changed and we have to adjust to that, and it's not always going to be easy.  (It was relatively easy during this quick break, but there were a few times where things were "off.")  We're evolving as a family.  His next break will be different from this past one.  We'll adjust. And I'm thinking (hoping) that we will continue to evolve and grow to be an even "better" (whatever that means) family.