FamILLy Weekend at U of I

We got to see Austen last weekend for a good 24 hours for FamILLy weekend at U of I. It was good to get eyes on him and give him some parental guidance again. 

We were walking from the bookstore to meet him when I saw him cross the street towards us. "There's our kid!" I proclaimed. He looked happy but pale and tired and dare I say skinny. He gave us all big hugs (even his sisters) and then gave us a tour of the campus quad and his architecture buildings including where he sat in his studio. 

Austen in His Studio Space

We returned to his dorm room where Peyton presented him with the two chocolate chip banana breads she made for him along with a tray of cinnamon rolls we had also brought him (I was happy we did to fatten him up a bit - I mean who loses weight your freshman year in college?). He said the food was pretty bad and they really tried not to eat late night crap. He said he wasn't eating breakfast anymore (his favorite meal) because he didn't allow enough time in the morning to eat before his class. Sheesh, this kid needed a reminder of a lot of things but I wasn't ready to tell him all this yet. I wanted to enjoy our time with him before I started doling out advice. 

We had tickets to the football game at 6pm but first we had reservations at a decent looking restaurant by the stadium with his roommate and their family. The boys ordered steaks and ate like kings. The food was pretty good for Champaign - definitely one that I will keep on my list. The boys headed back to the dorm to meet up with their friends before the game while we all checked into our hotel before circling back to the stadium. 

Lots of orange and blue packed the stadium that night. The winds from the south blew in along with the smell of manure. This stench did nothing to help me like U of I more. We changed seats so we could sit with the boys and the smell dissipitated a little. After the game (U of I won against Western Michigan), I took the girls back to the hotel while the Dads went out to the bars with the boys. 

The next morning, we picked Austen up for a big breakfast that had a 90-minute wait (good thing I got on that wait list early!). Another good one for Champaign that I will keep on our list too. We hit the mall to buy him a white dress shirt for pledging the fraternity and then dropped him back off at his dorm since he had a busy afternoon/evening. I did get to tell him that he needed to eat more, drink less and get enough sleep. My kid who was normally so structured and busy had way too much time on his hands now and he needed some activities to fill that time that did not include parties or heading to the bar. He said he was going to slow it down and questioned joining a fraternity. I told him he needed more things to fill his time and taking things away was not going to be good for him. His schedule needed to be packed. That's how he's always operated with structure and he thrived on that structure. Too much time was not something that was going to benefit him. I think he listened. 

What I found from the first month of school is that these freshman still need their parents to remind them of who they are and how they operate. They still need our support and counsel as well as a good talking to every now and then. They're figuring it out, I get it. But so are we. Trying not to be too concerned but giving them the space so they can figure out who they are without us too. So here's to hoping that the next time I get eyes on him, he'll look healthier and more rested than his first month of school. 

On the Quad

Siblings!