Coming Home: A Seasonal Guide to Creating Family Traditions with more than 50 recipes by Rosanna Bowles

Author:Rosanna Bowles [Bowles, Rosanna]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang
Published: 2018-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Spend Time with College-Age Kids

Trying to get your college-age kids to stay home is no small feat. I would say it’s next to impossible unless you’re willing to make some concessions. Once your child leaves for college, the way you interact will change. When they come home to visit, during the school year or over the summers, you’ll have to alter your expectations of how they spend their time. Over the past two years I’ve learned a lot about what I can do to engage with my college-age daughter while she’s home.

First, and probably most importantly, have a good supply of tasty food at home. After nine months of living in cramped dorms and eating cafeteria food, college students are starving for home-cooked meals. Rising to the occasion can be a daunting task, especially if your child has turned vegetarian or vegan. My daughter left for college and came back a vegetarian, so I always stock the refrigerator with lots of organic fruits and vegetables and the pantry with a variety of beans and nuts. I plan alluring menus featuring her favorite dishes that she hasn’t been able to eat while she was away.

For many young adults coming home from college, sharing cooking duties transforms from a chore into a fun and entertaining activity. Many nights, I’ve returned to a wonderful dinner my daughter has prepared for the family on her own. After years of cooking for my family, it’s a great treat to come home to a delicious meal after a hard day of work. I’m proud of my daughter’s abilities and delighted to be relieved of cooking for the evening.

To make those home-cooked meals even more enticing, have lots of good music that crosses the generation barrier. Try introducing some music that was part of your generation. For example, I love the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, and, dare I say, Burt Bacharach. I am always surprised how my daughter loves my music. On the other hand, also be open to listening to your children’s music. You too might discover some surprisingly enjoyable contemporary music. Ask your children what their favorites are and invite them to play it while they are at home.

After experiencing the all-encompassing stimulation of university life, family time can seem a little lackluster by comparison. To make home more attractive to an energetic young adult, I try to cultivate a relaxed que sera sera environment, and I encourage my daughter to bring her friends home. Some nights, sleepovers fill every possible bedroom space. I wake to find sleeping bags and makeshift couch-cushion mattresses strewn throughout every room in the house. Music playing loudly in the background and kids lounging on every available surface—it feels like the ’70s all over again, and I am magically transported back to my own youth. I love the young energy that pervades the house. I am also privy to some pretty interesting conversations, which give me a quick lesson on what’s happening in this new generation and the influences that are shaping our children’s futures.

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