We’ve All Been There: Home for The Holidays

By Lauren

[It doesn’t matter what school you go to, what state it is in, how big it is, whether it is public or private, all girls or coed…there are experiences that all college students share. No matter how crazy you think your personal situation is, it is not just you. So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

So, you’re home for the holidays. God it feels good! No more exams, no more papers – just pure bliss for the next few weeks. Just you, the couch, your home friends and a fridge stocked with all your favorite foods.

The first few days are great: you sleep late, lay around all day and don’t change out of your pajamas until it’s time to meet an old friend for dinner, or run out to get your hair cut (because you would NEVER trust one of those people on campus to do it).

But by day three, the novelty of being home starts to wear off. Your mom starts yelling at you to make your bed or hang up your jacket. She starts waking you up at 10 am with the familiar, “you already wasted half the day!” She starts pestering you about your grades, about when you are going to maybe get a part-time job, and about your love life.

You love your family and are so grateful to be home, but you just need to get a little space. You call up some of your friends and ask them to meet up with you at the bar downtown (you know, the one you tried to sneak into when you thought you were a cool high school senior). As you go to leave the house, though, your mom is right there.

“Where you going?”

“This late?”

“Who ya going with?”

“Who is driving?”

“Will you have a designated driver?”

“What time are you coming home?”

“Do you plan on spending any time with the family?”

“You know, drinking on a weeknight means you have a problem.”

“Don’t get home too late, or you will sleep the day away again tomorrow and you have laundry to do and gifts to wrap and I need help shoveling the driveway….”

For a moment you wonder if the dorms are open early and if it would be awful to spend the holidays alone in your double. Or if anyone would notice if you kicked your mom in the shins and made a run for it. But then you think of that homemade lasagna in the fridge (and how good it will be when you get home from the bar) and you suck it up, kiss your mom goodbye, and leave. It’s only a few more weeks. You will survive.

Don’t worry; we’ve all been there. And, yes, the lasagna (or brownies, or kugel, or whatever her specialty is) is totally worth all the rest.