1. Harry is coming to visit in 2 weeks!! It has been hard to not see him for so long, but the Eau Claire provost urged parents to have their kids wait 6 weeks before they came home. He said research shows the first 6 weeks have lots of high highs and low lows for freshmen as an aggregate and if kids can stay at school even when they feel a little homesick, they will find local support networks that can help them with ups and downs for the next 4 years. I remember my own campus’s center for the first year experience tell us something really similar when they presented to TAs in my course years ago, so we scheduled his first trip home accordingly. (ALSO HE IS HAVING THE BEST TIME AND IS NOT EVEN A LITTLE HOMESICK yet which is great but also CAN YOU JUST MISS US PLEASE). He made an IG story counting down to his visit, and I was so excited… until I realized he is counting down to seeing his gf. Cool cool. (The provost encouraged families to visit campus in the first 6 weeks, but Harry is a busy guy and will start traveling for speech soon, so we are visiting the weekend after he comes home for parent’s weekend. Or, as we call it, parents plus 4 siblings weekend). I also scheduled our holiday card pictures for the weekend he is home, so he is already a little pissy. I AM THE BEST.
2. Dance competitions and dive meets are looming. It is so fun to see the fruits of Dorothy and Cooper’s labor. Dorothy has some darling routines this year, but my very favorite is a lyrical small group dance with emo faces and remastered Disney music and flowing costumes with skin-colored illusion netting. VERY STEREOTYPICAL JUNIOR JAZZ, and I love it. THERE WILL BE BEIGE TIGHTS.
3. Parents’ Weekend is almost upon us, and I finally have a place to wear my Eau Claire mom sweatshirt. I am really excited to visit Harry in his college habitat and see how he has been living on his own for a couple of months. Where does he feed? What are his routines? Does he have grooming habits? (Yes, I am looking for a zoo-like experience. I hope there are signs with fun facts about his days).
4. HALLOWEEN! We have an awesome trick-or-treat neighborhood, and Dorothy has already invited new middle school friends over to ToT with her. I am excited for adorable kids in cute costumes and candy galore. In fact, I have already put out all my decorations before it is even October! I figured that as long as the dishwasher is broken (I cannot even talk about it— it’s awful to wash dishes, and we have a great repair guy who has already come out once and has already ordered the part he needs- GE Profile dishwashers are TERRIBLE— this is the third time it has broken in 4 years), I should get out my adorable hand-wash-only Halloween mugs and then I found my box of other stuff, and Minnie got on board. And, well. I mean. YOU CAN TELL A PRESCHOOLER DID THE HEAVY LIFTING is all I am saying.
So many great things! Your decor is on point, I say. I also have some miniature gourds in my house and I am very much here for it.
ReplyDeleteLol, we are doing our photos this weekend and NO ONE is excited about it. It's so funny how we all get along and then it's family photo time and we all hate each other.
I've decided we're skipping family photos this year and I'm just going to use casual pictures we've taken throughout the year for our Christmas card. It's a cop-out, but I just...don't feel like getting everyone dressed up and finding a time it works for all of us. The last few years we've just taken our own pictures anyway. I'm sure I'll look back and miss having a more "formal" picture from this year, but not enough to do something about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad Harry is loving college! I was SOOOOO homesick my first semester and really wanted to drop out. And then I started loving it and now look back on those four years as some of the most fun years of my life. College is a rollercoaster, especially at the start, but it's such an awesome experience.
Love the decor (even if I am a Halloween Scrooge).
Because my son is in college in another state, we don't see him till THANKSGIVING. That was so, so hard the first year- now I'm used to it. I'm excited for you that you get to see Harry soon. I definitely think it's good advice to give it six weeks. When I first dropped my son off, he was apprehensive. As I was driving home he actually texted me "I'm not sure if I like it here." Once classes started he got more comfortable, and by Thanksgiving, he loved it.
ReplyDeleteYes to the Halloween decorations! I may have to get mine out this weekend, at least some of them. I like to wait till October 1st but that's a Tuesday- I may not have the energy to decorate on a Tuesday.
Parents weekend! How exciting! And a visit from Harry. I am sure he will be happy to be home for a few days and eat with his family/sleep in his usual bed (college beds are not comfy). I didn't go home very often when I went to college since I worked on the weekends. And my parents for sure did not come to parents weekend since I was child #4... I wonder if they did for my eldest brother? I was 7 at the time so don't remember much about him going to college.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that Harry is loving college, though!!!
It's so great that you're listening to the advice for him not go home right away - so many parents don't! I hope he's having a great time!
ReplyDeleteI am getting the Halloween decorations out this weekend despite it not technically being October yet. I told my husband this and he suggested I wait until next weekend and I went feral. I am not giving up almost a week of Halloween decorations!!
This will probably not happen for Harry, but Eve sailed smoothly through her first six weeks and then after fall break was extremely homesick and sad. Then after Christmas was great again. Sometimes a taste of home makes it harder.
ReplyDeleteLove the decor! I miss the days of kids being excited about decorations. We've never really had family photos so what the hell am I even doing with my life?
I also can't wait for Grey Wolf and have only ever listened to these books! Hers are the only audiobooks I still listen to. Ever since podcasts came along, I've been hooked on those. I hope the new narrator is good. It took a bit for me to get used to Robert Bathurst when Ralph Cosham died, and now we've got another one!
ReplyDeleteI am not into Halloween stuff, but that mug!!
ReplyDeleteIt's been really fun working with Harry and watching him find his place within the forensics team. He's a great kid!
ReplyDeleteYour comparison to visiting Harry and learning about his grooming/eating habits like a visit to the zoo totally cracked me up. Minnie managing the decor and having it land in low places is super cute. I look forward to seeing photos of Dorothy's costume. Parents' weekends are so much fun. We looked back at photos from Tank's freshman year parents' weekend (now that he's a senior) and , , , he is not friends with any of the kids we met that weekend. I'm glad Harry's enjoying school. Mini cried the first 6 weeks, and it was SO hard.
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