Ah, 'tis the season for procrastination and counting down the hours until break. Can’t you just smell it in the air? It is that beautiful time of year when first semester is almost over, which means for many, going home for the first time since August is just around the corner. Here is what you will have a new appreciation for when you go home for the first time in three months.

Your own washing machine.

There is something about the fabric softener you use at home or the nonexistent two-mile long wait that makes doing laundry, dare I say, somewhat enjoyable. You will leave the laundry room with both of your socks and not some random person’s underwear. Your clothes will smell so clean and feel so soft, it is as if they are brand new.

The smell of your house.

For years, friends would come over to your house expressing how your house has a distinct smell. You probably looked at them like they were nuts because you could never smell it. However, let me tell you, when you first walk into your home after months of smelling a funky dorm building, you notice it! Your house just smells homey and unique and yours. It is one of the most comforting feelings.

Your own bathroom.

If you spent your first semester sharing a communal bathroom, you will more than understand. No shower shoes! Awesome water pressure! No clumps of hair sitting over the shower drain! No listening to someone go to the bathroom as you shower! No needing to carry all of your stuff back and forth! I am sure you can think about 20 other joys that using your own bathroom will bring you.

Mom’s home cooking.

After months of gagging down whatever mystery meat your school cafeteria has been producing, you will soon have all of your favorite meals sitting in front of you. No more long lines to get your food. No more sitting in a cafeteria filled with screaming people. Soon you will be home, sitting at your kitchen table, probably in your PJs, engaging in a conversation with your parents about all the great things you have done in the past couple of months. (Also ever so slyly leaving out the stories your parents don’t need to know about, if you know what I mean.)

Your pets.

Yes, your parents and siblings will be happy to see you, but no one will be as happy as your pet. The poor little guy has been wondering where you have been all these months.

Your bed.

The feel of your sheets. The absence of cold cinder blocks next to your face. The warmth of your comforter. The extra space. That feeling of climbing under your sheets for the first time is so gratifying, you won’t want to move for days.

Your own room.

No roommate that you have to worry about waking up. No more having to agree with someone on what to watch on TV. Your own room feels bigger and more comfortable than you could ever make your dorm room. The padded carpet underneath your feet is like walking on clouds. The linoleum floor with a little decorative floor rug could never be that comfortable.

Most importantly, just being able to chill out.

There will be no burden weighing on you to make you actually go to class and actually do your homework (ugh, college). You will be able to just sit on your couch and watch a movie with your home friends. Or maybe going to your local movie theater that you spent one too many Friday nights at in high school will be fun. With all the new movies that come out during the holiday season, you will definitely find something you like.

Check this one out: Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg Movie? Yes Please!

Your parents will be so happy to have you home, you will get all kinds of special attention. Enjoy it all because soon the glamour will wear off and your parents will start to annoy you with having to live under their house rules again. Having to answer to someone again gets real old, real fast. You will be dying to go back to school to see your friends and to have your freedom back. College is definitely a unique experience.