End of winter break, in hindsight, was a great time to take stock of the growth/maturity of the college process. And what a process it was - from the skinny kid who matriculated to the man who ultimately emerged four years later.
Every winter break was preceded by great excitement and anticipation. For us, in the early years our anticipation did not match up with the (lack) excitement S displayed; that was made up by the later years.
First winter there wasn't enough air in the state for S and parents; his night owl schedule (which hadn't existed a mere six months earlier) meant the house was constantly out of sync. This, combined with mono-syllabic answers to every question and his need to not be around us, yet be provided with a car and money created some tension. (In fact, part of me couldn't wait for him to leave). We were quite clearly idiots who had no concept of anything.
Second winter was a little better - but we made the mistake of pressing the academic questions. That meant for more single, non-descriptive answers to all questions ("fine", "good"). We were still idiots - but at least we laid out clear academic expectations.
Third winter brought home a different person. Now all topics were open for discussion, the future could be spoken about, all aspects of college life were freely explained, baseball gossip was shared and we were invited into his world for a look. And it was good! We were getting smarter.
His last winter was great. He had a permanent job, he planned a post graduation trip with his friends, we met the GF, spoke about his hopes, wishes, dreams, and desires ((he had made peace with the fact that a career as a baseball player wasn't in the cards). A man had emerged from the skinny boy we had sent away. When he left, we missed him as much as when he left for school four years before. Somehow, we had gotten smarter during his four years of college!
