Here is what every college student should expect coming home for the holidays:

1. If you are trying to hide your freshman 15 or more, don’t worry, your parents notice immediately! As soon as you come in the door or hop out of your car, they can see the 23 boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts you and your roommate went to go get at 12am every other night of the week. They can see your lack of knowing how to not drink alcohol and binge eat past 9pm at night. They can also see you have used all $325 of your dinning dollars on chick fil a or panda express every time you are leaving class to go home to cook something healthy. Do not be ashamed, they will point it out, make fun, and give you crap but they too did the "freshman 15 walk of shame" coming home to their parents!
2. Rules, what are rules? Coming home, understand that If a hometown friend is asking to hang out past the hours of 10pm, this is not acceptable and doesn’t make sense to your parents. Getting ready or taking a shower with your Bluetooth speaker up to volume 10 is unnecessarily loud and you are disturbing everyone around you and you are accused of your hearing going to go out in 20 years. Left a dirty dish on the coffee table that you tell yourself you’ll pick up after the tv show goes off? Do not dare leave it sitting out for more than 2 minutes after you finished eating, you will be accused of being lazy and the ‘I bet your apartment is filthy’ speech clashes with the good mood you were in enjoying your tv show on your couch you spent 17 years in getting comfy.
3. The cool chokers you wear out all the time or going out outfits you wear to the bars or your besties birthday on the strip, leave them! If you have never been called a name by your parents which I am sure you have, now would be the opportunity for them to call you much more if you do not leave this attire in your dorm or apartment! It is always the matter of the fact that they know what you are wearing out, they can see and they are not stupid, but please for the love, they DO NOT want you walking into their house with it on!
4. If you have siblings, hug them (or kiss them) From being dropped off in August all the way until coming home in December, they too are growing just like you! Do not forget they are in school and striving for success just like you! If they come into your room while everyone is getting ready for bed telling you about what they did to get on redlight, why they gotten written up, or about some of the crazy things mom and dad have been doing while you were away, LISTEN!
5. Home cooked meals, you are the most missed!! Make your plates bigger than you ever have, enjoy the several options on the stove you did not slave over, enjoy not seeing a orange or red ramen noodle wrapper on the counter, eat like you haven’t eaten in days! Having dinner on the stove or table every night of the week is something you will realize you took for granted!
6. Got a hometown bestie? Run to her/him with open arms! Text, call, facetime, snapchat, do whatever you have to do to let them know you are returning home! Understand that the both of you will have lots to share, and lots of people to introduce to each other, new friends are apart of college but let them know how much they still mean to you!! Take advantage of your time home to visit your old bestie and their family, you won’t regret it!
7. See a crappy ex at a red light? 0 to 60 never felt so good! The past is the past, do not look in your rearview either!

8. Appreciate your laundry being washed for you. If you wake up in the morning and your clothes you wore the previous day is folded on the table take a minute to put it away, hug your mom, and soak in the absolute perfectness of your laundry being done for you, January is not far away and you my friend will take this too for granted!

9. Save your drunk stories for another year from now...or three! There are only a few things I would suggest to share with your family over a home cooked meal at the dinner table, depending on your comfort level with your parents just know they are going to want to know ALL you have been doing. It is okay to share all of your good and bad moments, but don’t be too brutally honest, they still have hope you are their little angel baby!

10. Miss being told to clean you room? i think not. Tidy up a bit. Make your parents proud, even if your dorm or apartment is a wreck like your life or your cleaning habits from high school hasn't changed, try to impress them...if that is manageable HAHA