If you went out this weekend you may have noticed the hordes of parents wandering around campus. They were the ones with the all too conspicuous name tags and the varying shades of green apparel. It was Freshman Parent's Weekend and I, like many other lucky freshmen, was visited by my parents. If you had looked carefully you could have easily spotted us freshmen. We were the ones standing between two adults usually slightly cringing at either our parents' clothing, what they were saying, their need to have a picture in front of every building at Dartmouth or most likely a combination of all of the above.
Now I love my parents very much, but when I saw them at three o'clock on a sunny afternoon dressed for a hiking expedition to the Arctic, I got a little worried. The initial meeting went like this:
"Marcia!"
Me: "Mom, Dad." (hug Mom, hug Dad)
Mom: "Let me look at you. You look tired, do you sleep? And kind of skinny, are you eating? And what are you doing in a tee shirt? Don't you know it's only 60 degrees out? Do you have enough blankets, are you cold at night, I could order you some flannel sheets. See, I even brought the L. L. Bean catalogue with me. And what about your roommate, are you two getting along? Have you been wearing your retainer, when was the last time you vacuumed, did you make reservation for dinner, what are these cough drops doing here, are you sick, have you been to the doctor, maybe we should take you to the doctor........?"
Dad: "Mind if I play Snood?"
I took them to dinner and a show and around nine o'clock we were done. My parents decided to walk me home and then go back to the motel. It had just gotten dark and only a few people were out when I noticed my mother was beginning to look worried.
Mom: "Marcia, are you sure you're safe when you walk back to your dorm alone?
Me: " Yes Mom, it's Hanover."
Mom: "Maybe you should have someone walk you home?"
Me: " Everytime it's dark? Mom it's Hanover, it's safe."
Mom: "Maybe I could get you pepper spray?"
Me: "Mom. No."
Mom: "How about taking a self defense class?"
Me: "MOM!!!!! NO."
( various lights go on and people look out their windows at me)
Dad: "When we get back to your room, do you mind if I play Snood?"
The next night we went out to dinner in Woodstock. For the first time since spring break I got to drive. I politely kicked my father into the back seat and proceeded to fly down the lanes of I-91 at the heart-stopping speed of 55 mph. My mother sat in her ritual "Marcia's driving" position, left forearm braced against the dashboard, right hand gripping the door handle and both feet, with knees locked, firmly pressed against the floor.
As we recklessly made our way down the interstate my father would yell out "turn here" once we had just passed the exit and my mother kept warning me to "look out for that car" 200 ft. ahead of us in opposite lane. We did finally get to Woodstock, possibly the cutest, quaintest town in all of New England. It has a town green and a country inn and three or four covered bridges, all of which my mother wanted a picture of me in front of. I envisioned the photo album page, me smiling in front of a covered bridge, me smiling in front of another covered bridge, me smiling in front of yet another covered bridge and finally me looking really really pissed off in front of a fourth covered bridge. I managed to convince my mother not to make me take the pictures.
Finally it was Sunday. After a nice lunch, a trip to Grand Union and I few more games of Snood I kissed my parents good-bye and watched them drive off for home. It was nice having them visit and I miss them already but thank God Sophomore Parent's Weekend is over a year away.
