When I first chose the University of Idaho as the place to spend an entire four years, I took into account the programs, the cost, the community and most importantly the distance from home.
I wanted a university that didn’t allow for quick weekend trips home. I wanted distance and change.
And on the first day of school when I waved from my Tower bedroom window down at my mother, we both knew it would be quite a while before we’d see each other in person again.
Thankfully, my mother is the type of person who is obsessed with both Snapchat and catching up with me every day. The months between my first day of school and the first academic break were hard. As much as I wanted to leave home and keep distance from my family to grow on my own, I also wanted to share my love of my new home with my best friend — my mother.
Hailey Stewart | Argonaut
When that first Moms’ Weekend rolled around in spring 2016, we were ecstatic. I was excited to give my mom a true Moscow tour, show her my classes and, of course, eat real food for once. But when we read the lineup of events for Moms’ Weekend, we realized it wasn’t for us.
As much as I wanted to share my college life with my mom, we went a different direction with our weekend. We packed up, headed for Spokane and saw one of our favorite bands. We still took in the sights of Moscow and tried every restaurant possible, but since then, we have never been the mother-daughter duo particularly fond of the common Moms’ Weekend.
In the years since, my mom and I have scheduled her visits to avoid the regular timing of Moms’ Weekend. While most mothers will descend on Moscow this weekend, mine will visit in a few weeks. We’ll only find slightly long lines at the Breakfast Club and actually be able to find parking downtown. We’ll do what works best for us.
Instead of a wine and cheese night, we’ll definitely go with margaritas and tacos instead. Rather than making our own art, we’ll go to the Prichard and check out some art we won’t be ashamed of. When it comes to the rest of the weekend, we enjoy eating, drinking and being merry much more than a structured set of events to attend.
Some of these Moms’ Weekend events are rather expensive when you round out the weekend, and some don’t factor well into what students might want to do with their moms outside the university.
Whatever you do with your mom or mom-like figure this weekend, make it count. Whether it’s your last weekend with “mom” before your big graduation day or simply your last Moms’ Weekend before the event changes to Parent and Family Weekend, do what makes the most sense for you. Moms and Moscow are what you make them.
Hailey Stewart can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @HaileyAStew