The Five Stages of Returning Home
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The prospect of heading home for Thanksgiving is making us all giddy with excitement. The food, the friends, the relaxation, oh my! Here are five stages you may experience during your time at home; hopefully things won’t go any worse.
1. Ecstasy
You are ready to do all the things and eat all the food. You can’t believe how amazing your bed feels and how great it is to be back in your old room; but what were you thinking when you bought that old poster? Yikes. Still, you’re so happy to be home, in the fold of sympathetic and pampering parents who coddle you endlessly. Between catching up with your friends and speed-shopping with your mother, you’ve had an exhaustingly great start to the holiday.
2. Quiet & Content
Your day has slowly dissolved to a long lunch with your parents and maybe a power nap after hanging out with too many friends—or none at all depending on your caffeine levels. You’ve realized that you no longer have enough energy, and the cliff of sleep deprivation is becoming menacingly real.
3. Couch Potato
You’ve happily ensconced yourself in front of the TV after Thanksgiving dinner, catching up on all the shows you’ve missed throughout the semester. Who knew these things still existed? After being quizzed and queried by several of your relatives, including that one well-meaning but incessantly annoying aunt you definitely have, you deserve some brainless wild partying in front of the TV.
4. Sappy Sally
You’ve refused to leave your room for anything but leftovers and have had a tired, possibly sobby heart-to-heart with your mom. Nothing can soothe those emotional and psychological bruises better than some good ol’ mothering.
5. Return of the King
You’ve slept for more than 12 hours and your parents have finally stopped nagging you to try to recount the events of the past three months in these three days. You’ve reached a happy impasse, where you are almost pre-nostalgic for home again, even though you have one more day left. At the same time, you find yourself longing for the red brick and chaos of campus. Heck, you even find yourself fondly remembering your time on the Quad shuttle!