Mothers and fathers have days, but parents have a weekend.

This past weekend, which was parents’ weekend, got me thinking about parents and the relationships we have with them. Even though I only got to spend just a few days with my parents, it was good to see them. But seeing them also gave me an interesting perspective on my current experience.

            I have been in Boston at Northeastern for officially eight weeks today. A lot has happened in those eight weeks. I have made many discoveries, I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve smiled at new ideas, I’ve made new friends, I’ve been through quite the whirlwind of life. The exciting thing is that is hasn’t even really begun.

            The weirdest thing to me, however, is that a lot of what I’ve been doing and discovering, I can’t even begin to explain in full to my parents. My whole life my parents have been there. They always supported me in what I did, and heard about every little detail. Now I give them an overview over Skype.

College is giving my peers and me a chance to fully experience life without our parents telling where to be and when and what to do. We have to take the morals our parents gave us and jump into life headfirst. The tricky part is that our parents have to trust us enough to do that, or be wise enough to let us make our own mistakes.

            Walking through campus on Sunday, I saw parents with their children everywhere. I heard sound bites like, “I’ll be fine, dad,” and “but mom.” Yep, even though we’re in college now, we still have that attitude.  It is interesting to see where the people I’ve been around for eight weeks come from.

            Because like it or not, we all come from our parents. Love them or hate them, eventually we become them. But if it is a comfort to know, college is shaping us into unique people with unique characteristics.

            Take me for instance. I have my mother’s sweet tooth (although I’m not willing to try chocolate covered bacon), my father’s feet, but I love to write unlike my parents. And I hope that one day I have the work ethic of my mother and my father’s sense of direction. But I also can’t imagine trying to run my own business.

            The weekend was a good chance to see how my parents have been without me around. The conclusion: they are still boring, but they are my boring parents, and I wouldn’t ask for anyone else.

            So maybe we should always have a “parents’ weekend” to take the time to appreciate the little things that make our parents such an essential part of who we are and who we become. 

Above: The light house at Provincetown in Cape Cod. We went to Cape Cod for parents' weekend to escape the city and flocks of other parents at NU.