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When a child becomes an adult and goes away to college, the holiday season can be hard for both you and your child. You want your child to be home with you, and your child may miss all of the family time and holiday gatherings. The farther away from home the college is, the more difficult it can be for parents and adult children. However, despite the difference, you can do things to make the holidays special for your child.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Send them cards.
It’s small and may not seem that significant, but getting personal mail is enormous when you are away from home and missing your family. Send them a card for every holiday they miss, no matter how small. Encourage other members of the family to also send cards for each of the holidays.
Getting a stack of season’s greetings cards in the mail to read and hang in their dorm room will help them feel a little closer to their family. You can even send them cards for no reason at all. People rarely get personal mail with everyone using technology to communicate, so it is always exciting when something personal comes in the mail.
Mail them a holiday care package.
Getting a holiday care package is exciting when you’re in college. You can fill it with holiday candies, small decorations for their dorm room, card games, photos, or small trinkets they’ll enjoy. Care packages don’t have to be huge or expensive; they remind your child how much you love them.
It will help them feel connected even though they are far away. It can also be fun to share with their roommates who may not get care packages from their families. Include a string of holiday lights for them to put in their dorm window. You can send care packages around each of the holidays, so they have something to look forward to.
Set them up with any help they need.
College is stressful, and being away from family is stressful, so if there is anything you can do to help alleviate some of the stress, offer that help. If they are working on scholarships or college admission for graduate school or their next step, you can help by setting them up with a company like Empowerly.
Empowerly can help with admissions applications, financial aid, essay topics, student employment, and the overall admission process. Helping in this way can alleviate some of the stress they feel as the semester ends, and they are trying to focus on classes and everything else while missing home.
Have video family get-togethers
Missing out on family get-togethers that they’ve been a part of their entire lives can be sad and frustrating. However, they don’t have to miss everything just because they are in a different location. Use a service like Zoom or FaceTime to include them in the get-togethers. They can see and talk to everyone in real time. While it isn’t the same, it is better than missing out altogether. Plan an online family game night. Have your child on video while you decorate the tree to bake holiday favorites.
Becoming an adult is exciting, but it can also be sad and overwhelming when they realize what it means to be an adult. Taking care of school, work, and adult responsibilities when you still want to be a child over the holidays is a hard realization. As a parent, you want to protect them and make them happy, but you also have to encourage them to be independent and responsible. These small steps to include them in the holidays while they are away offer a perfect compromise.