Summer has hit, and for most college age kids that means going home for the summer and seeing all the relatives you have not seen since the end of last semester. We, as college kids, all look forward to homemade meals, clean laundry, plenty of food in the fridge, and let’s not forget our family who we have missed oh, so much.
However, coming from a big family, who are all super close, and coming home from college means being put right back in what seems to be the Daytona 500 of your family’s busy summer schedule.
We have a few weeks to get situated at home before the rest of our siblings and cousins get out of school for the summer. We spend those days getting caught up on sleep, watching all the weird shows our parents have recorded on tv, eating everything in sight; because hey, it’s free food, but most importantly trying to figure out what we are going to do with our lives this entire summer.
Then… out of nowhere, our days become so packed that we do not even know what day it is. From helping our grandparents run errands, to taking a brother to lunch at his local high school, because he knows you are at home probably lying on the couch and he really wants a Publix sub.
Our moms hand us a list of chores to complete, which seem to be a mile long, and all you think is “Does she not realize this is called summer break for a reason?” When we do not want to do all the chores that we feel like our mom has pretty much just piled up, we head to the next relatives house.
Whether it be our grandparents or aunt and uncles houses we are hit with 20 questions before we can get both feet in the door. I do not blame them, they have not seen us in months, of course, they are going to have questions, but sometimes we sit back and wonder if they are secretly involved with the FBI and watching our every move.
Spending time with our family is one of our favorite things to do when we come home. Everything seems to be going right and everyone is happy, then five o clock hits, and if you have made plans with going out for dinner with your family, you know how stressful it is to pick a restaurant. Your mom is wanting Italian, your grandmother is wanting a quiet atmosphere, the boys are screaming Mexican, and you, well you are right in the middle of it demanding the really good steak meal, because like said before, it is a free meal on your end. It always ends up being everyone saying what they want, then out of a blue everyone stops talking and you end up at the local Mexican place because who doesn’t love Mexican?!
Dinnertime is sometimes stressful, but being home from college also means having an extra set of hands around to help. From taking a cousin to practice, making dinner for your family, or even going to an end of the year party because your aunt and uncle are at work. Being home for the summer earns your the role as the older sibling/cousin/grandchild, and you're expected to help out as much as possible.
So, maybe coming home from college means our lives are going to be as busy, or even busier then they were at college. However, looking back on all the memories, and all the great times we have together, we realize we would not want to trade a single second for the world. We may not admit it all the time, but we secretly always look forward to coming home and being with those who love us the most.
