Well, we finally did it. That's one year for the books, but now it is time to come back home. We all solemnly pack up or dorm rooms, reminisce on old memories and give our friends the final hugs before we see them again in the fall. It's a bittersweet feeling, It is comforting knowing that you are going back to see your old friends and tell them about memories you have made in college, but it is also a known fact that you are going to miss the college life.

The leap from going to living at home under your parents' roof to moving to college where you have full independence is a scary yet exciting one. You are excited for the freedom and independence but at the same time you are a little scared of being all alone. The feeling of coming home after a year of college is somewhat similar, however the circumstances have changed. You are excited to come home and reconnect with old friends and tell them all your crazy stories, but at the same time it is going to be difficult to adjust living under your parents' roof again. You have grown to be your own person and found your way through life without anyone telling you what to do, no one tells you what time to be home or what chores you have to complete.

Coming home is sort of like being in high school again, your parents expect some sort of household contribution as far as chores, updating them on your whereabouts, and abiding by some curfew that your parents think is still reasonable. Mom and Dad, I'm not the same girl that you dropped off at school in the fall. I have grown to love the taste of independence, and giving that up might not be as easy as you think. It isn't unrealistic to miss the sense of complete freedom, but at the same time it is hard to remember and follow all the little rules that your household has. I don't mind spending time with the family or washing a dish or two, but I also want to see my friends, work, and have an awesome summer. While it is important to me to spend time with you, I also want to spend my time doing other things.

Coming home from college, there seems to be so many things to do in such a short period of time, I want to fit in all the items I have on my agenda so that I can truly say I had an amazing and eventful summer. Parents, your kids aren't the same people you knew in their high school years. Each of us have gotten to taste of freedom and now we can't imagine ever going back to a place with rules or restrictions.

Be patient with your kids as they are making the adjustment back to home life; we will forget that we are responsible to let you know where we are going and also take advantage of the fact that we don't have to do our own laundry anymore. We are all growing into different people, coming home from college is just another chapter opening in each of our books.