After months at college, going home for break is all students want to do.
But after living on their own, is it possible for students to go home and co-exist under the same rules they left behind?
“No,” said Robin McClain, 22, a physical education student.
“I am from Orlando and I know that is close, but there are too many rules and regulations,” said McClain.
She said when she was a freshman she understood because her parents did not want to let go.
But now, “I just can’t take it.”
“The kids have gotten a taste of freedom with no one knowing when they’re coming and going,” said Janis Brody, in a 2001 Associated Press article.
Brody is the author of “Bring Home the Laundry: Effective Parenting for College and Beyond.”
Brody advises: parents should try to blend love with respect for their children’s independence.
They should keep the leash loose and keep in mind that, while their children have been learning to take care of themselves, they have also learned more about being responsible adults.
There are parents who do know how to let go when their children go to college.
“I never had a curfew,” Marisa Uzoaru, 20, a biology student from Lake Jerado, Mo.
“So when I come back for my breaks my mother and I never have any problems when it comes to what time to come home.”
Journalism professor Michael Abrams has a 17-year-old daughter at the University of Florida.
He said when she comes home for break she will not have a curfew, but “she must tell us were she is and check in when it’s late at night.”
“She is expected home before morning though,” he said.
Some parents let go early.
“When I turned 16 my mother let loose her tight grip on me,” said Sharnieka Brown, 19, a criminology student from St. Petersburg.
“I was always a good kid so she never questioned me about my partying or anything when I was home.”
Uzoara said her mother never believed in holding her children at home all day and all night. That creates “negative curiosity.”
There are some things that parents should not expect from children coming home for break, according to Brody.
“College students should not be expected to pick up exactly where they left off-cleaning dinner dishes every night or taking out the garbage on Tuesdays,” Brody said.
But, she advises children should pick up behind themselves in common areas and help around the house.