If your college student is coming home for Thanksgiving, here is my one piece of advice: don’t plan too much and over schedule their brief time at home.

College kids are tired — emotionally, socially, mentally, and physically. Many carry invisible fatigue.

They’ve been sharing bathrooms, sleeping in uncomfortable beds, living with people 24/7, eating on the go and running on limited downtime. They have been taking exams, writing papers and having late nights with their friends. They survived Halloweekend.

Their need for rest isn’t a sign they don’t want to see you. Rather, it’s a sign they can slow down and finally breathe.

Home is where they want to exhale.

To sleep.
To be quiet.
To decompress.
To be in their own space.
To not have to perform.

Rest isn’t laziness— it’s nervous system recovery.
Space isn’t withdrawal— it’s recalibration.
And spending time with old friends who feel safe, known, and effortless isn’t avoidance— it’s comfort.

So moms and dads…resist the urge to pack the calendar with outings, visits, errands, reunions, appointments and photo ops.
Give them rest.
Give them space.
Give them sleep.
Give them exhale.
Give them room to just be.

Sometimes loving them well means doing less, not more.

That’s what home is for.