The dreaded time is finally here. It’s time to pack everything back up and leave for school. If you’re anything like me, you may be leaving a few days before class starts so you can get back into your school routine. Or you may be like some of my friends and not leaving until the day classes start. Regardless, before packing up your car and saying goodbye to your parents and siblings to head back to school, there are few things left to do that you may not have thought about.

Spend Time With Your Grandparents

If you’re fortunate enough to still have grandparents alive and close by, go spend an hour or two with them. Leave your cell phone in the car and go sit and talk to them about their day. Ask how they’ve been, how their Christmas was if you didn’t spend it with them, or ask if they have any plans coming up. You may even surprise them with lunch from their favorite fast food restaurant. Even if you just sit and watch their favorite TV show, the time spent with them means more than anything else. Spring semester means few holidays and opportunities to come home, so take time out of your last few days to visit your grandparents.

Eat At Your Favorite Restaurant

Nashville has some of the best restaurant’s ever put on this Earth. From our Hatty B’s to the Pharmacy to the hole-in-the-wall restaurant in my tiny little subdivision. Before you leave to head back to school, try to eat one last meal at one of your favorite places that you don’t have at school. Skip McDonald’s and Taco Bell and hit up one of those places you probably won’t eat again until summer. Grab your friends and pick a place to have one last lunch together!

Spend The Day With Your Best Friend

This one might seem like a no brainer, but it is so underappreciated. If you’re like me, you may have seen your best friend almost every day over break. I spent three straight days with mine watching football, watching the ball drop, and shopping. I plan to see her one more time before I leave too. If your best friend goes to another school, it is so important to spend quality time together before summer. Enjoy it and cherish it! That’s your best friend for a reason!

Cook A Meal For Your Parents

Or help them cook dinner if you don’t have the culinary skills. They are going to miss you more than anyone else once you leave. You spent 18+ years under their roof, and they are just getting used to having you home, and you’re leaving again. Put your phone up and enjoy your last nights at home. Chances are you won’t have many more nights like these until spring break or summer.

Wrestle Your Sibling One More Time

My brother and I fight like cats and dogs. I’m four years older, and I never let him forget it, but somehow between August and December my sweet baby brother grew up. I left and he was still shorter than me, and seemed like such a baby, but I came back to a 6’0” tall 15 year old kid who was starting to bulk up with baseball workouts. I found out pretty quickly just how much muscle he had put on when I tried to wrestle him and found myself pinned after five minutes. It’s nights like those that I love being home with my brother, as annoying as he may be sometimes. So have one last wrestling match before you leave. Your siblings may not admit it, but they do miss you, and life is just as different for them when you leave.

Take An Afternoon To Spend With Your Dog

The last thing you should do is take your dog to his favorite place and spend some one on one time with him. My sweet puppy has definitely picked me as the Christina Yang to his Meredith Gray, and my mom has joked many times this Christmas asking “What is Boomer going to do when you leave him?” I found out after Thanksgiving that he was always outside my bedroom door whining to be let in. So take an afternoon and take him to the park and then to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. He’s going to miss you more than anyone.