Muffins with Mom – When your graduate comes home



Sometimes a graduate comes home taller than when he left.

 

It’s graduation season, that time of year where you receive open house invites, shop for an ideal gift and plan for next steps. Do you have a recent graduate or a graduate who has returned home for the summer?

I’ve attended a couple of graduation open houses so far, it’s always encouraging to see a young person moving forward with his/her life pursuits. In this season of graduation excitement, our teen has returned home for the summer, after his first year away at school. What happens when your graduate comes home?

When my graduate returned home I saw him for a couple of hours then he was off to visit friends. And that’s the way it was for about a week. He was home to eat and sleep, then back out the door to catch up with old friends.

Now that my son has been home a few weeks, he has settled into a routine. He also had to become reacquainted with some of the house rules-

·         You still have a curfew…be home by the designated time

·         Clean clothes should be folded and put away…don’t leave them lying around with the chance of becoming mixed in with the dirty clothes

·         You still have assigned chores...and yes, you may be asked to do a little more

While my son is home, I’ve encouraged him to schedule all of his doctor and dental visits. In an effort to be sure this was taken care of, I called to schedule one of the doctor appointments for my son. The receptionist on the phone asked questions to verify his current information.

When asked about our phone number, I realized the receptionist had an old number on file. I recited my son’s cell number to her, then asked if I could change that and give her my number as the main contact. The receptionist’s response was, “Is there any reason he can’t take his own calls?” I chuckled to myself as I said, “No there isn’t.”

I was still trying to do everything for my son. At some point we have to let our kids grow up and trust that we’ve done a decent job providing them with a strong foundation. When your graduate comes home greet him with hugs, kisses and words of encouragement. And rest assured that you have been successful as a parent.

Have you had any recent experiences with a graduate, college, high school or maybe even pre-school?