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Young Adult Coming Home from College: What to Expect
Your young adult coming home from college is one of those moments most parents look forward to for weeks. But here’s what nobody warns you about: the kid walking back through your door is not the same one who left, and your home is not quite the same place they left either. Understanding that dynamic before they arrive is exactly what makes the difference between a visit that feels connected and one that slowly falls apart.
Most of the drama that happens during college breaks comes down to two things. The first is walking in without clear house guidelines. The second is showing up with mismatched expectations about what the visit is actually for. Parents are usually thinking about reconnecting and catching up. Kids are usually thinking about their favorite restaurants, their old friends, and sleeping in their own beds. Neither of those things is wrong. But when nobody talks about it, that gap becomes a slow burn.
In this episode, I walk you through how to have a clear and kind conversation early in the visit, why I call it “rollercoaster bar parenting” and what that actually looks like, and why your kid not thinking about the relationship is one of the healthiest signs possible. If you want the visit to feel good for everyone, this one is worth your time.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- How to adjust your expectations to protect your relationship with your child.
- Why thinking about how the kid coming home from college might be different than the one who left is helpful.
- How to ditch the “Disneyland Thinking” and set realistic expectations before they arrive.
- The early conversation to have every single visit (including what to actually say).
- What “rollercoaster bar parenting” looks like and why it works.
- Why your kid not thinking about the relationship is healthy and normal.
- How to stop outsourcing the question “Am I a good enough mom?” to your child (or anyone else for that matter).
Mentioned in This Episode
- Free online parenting workshop
- How to Raise Confident, Resilient Kids class
- Parenting podcast roadmap
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