You had counted down the days, eagerly packed your bags, and bid your friends farewell as you parted ways for winter break. Finally, a large bed, all of the food you wanted and some quality time with the ‘rents. You get home, give your fam a big hug and catch up on the time that has passed. But after a bit, the reunion wears off and things gets awkward. Because no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t seem to get back into your old groove. You’ve changed a bit and so has your fam, so you had to figure out how everything fit together again. Which happened over time, but that doesn’t change the fact that things got a little awkward before they got better.
Here are some of the awkward exchanges that you found yourself running into:
When you refered to your dorm room as ‘home’
Then you slowly faded out of your sentence after you realize what you just said and avoid looking your mom in the eye.
When you were telling a story from college and accidentally dropped some (not so lady like) terms in front of the ‘rents because it makes the story so much funnier
But your parents just stared at you in disbelief and you smiled awkwardly because you had to learn to how to censor your words again.
When you realized that the world kept going and your family was functioning without you
Your mom referenced a stories from while you were gone and has to explain it to you and your step dad updates you on your mom’s new obsessions and you learn about the latest happenings of your brothers. All the while feeling slightly outside of the loop– awkward.
When family members tried to sneakily figure out what you do on thursday/friday/saturday nights
Is it a trick question? What exactly do they expect you to say? Who knows? I surely don’t.
Or when you were in your room at night and thought of something really funny, but you had no one to tell it to
So you just giggled alone in your bed and wished you had your roommates with you.
When someone asked how college is going
The truth would be to say that half of the time it is wonderful and the other half you want to pull all of your hair out due to stress. Even though you workout every day you still seemed to gain weight, all the boys are still in their f*** boy phase, and you question your decision of coming to such an expensive college and your abilities daily. But that’s more information than what they were hoping for. So you just say ‘great’ and smile as they look longingly at you, reminiscing on their days in college.
When no one understood what you were saying because you’ve picked up new slang at school that they don’t say at home
So you paused in the middle of your sentence and attempted to explain what the words you used mean. Though there are some phrases that you can never recover from.
When you drove around town, reminiscing on your adventures with your high school friends, but you couldn’t even see them because they were gone at school
And then you realized that they have made new friends wherever they are and become slightly salty– ‘cause they’re yours.
When you stared at your pantry for a solid ten minutes because there were too many different (FREE) options and you couldn’t decide what to eat
After becoming accustomed to a diet of easy mac, tatertots and popcorn, having a wide variety of food choices–that you do not have to buy– was quite overwhelming.
Nonetheless, it was nice to spend some quality time with the fam and make up for lost time. Through awkward moments and all they will always love you (but only ‘cause they have to) & you will always love them.