At the beginning of the year, you focus much of your attention towards helping your student transition to the newness in their life, whether they are a freshman acclimating to a new home or a senior preparing for their last year in college. Now the focus shifts to a different transition—the transition from college back to life at home during the holiday break.
To ensure a positive transition and a happy holiday season, anticipate changes. Understand both your and your student’s expectations, and prepare for your student’s arrival home. Give your student time to ease back into family life. Communication can smooth this transition. You can avoid many problems or potential situations if you discuss them from the beginning. Talk to your student about your expectations, and make sure to ask about theirs too.
Once your student is home, inquire about finals and if they feel exhausted or burnt out by the added stress and the culmination of the semester. Instead of coming home excited and full of energy, they might just want to come home and catch up on lost sleep. If so, give them time to rest, get acclimated, and decompress.
Time, and lack of it, typically becomes an issue during school breaks. If this is your student’s first visit back home for a significant period of time, they might want to get in touch with their old friends. To ensure that you get your share of time with your student, when they get home, you can schedule time with them throughout the break. Make sure your student knows dates for traditional family holiday functions. Also consider planning activities and get-togethers that everyone in your family and your student’s friends can enjoy together.
Curfews become a common issue upon your student’s return from college. Students argue that they stayed out as late as they wanted at school. One way around this argument is to ask your student what time they expect to be home and to call or text if they will not make it home by the time indicated