Stay Connected to your College Student

School is back in session!  What an exciting time for students, especially new College Freshmen.  Lots of new experiences and some first-time distance from the safety of the parental nest.  Ahhh…freedom. 

From the parent’s perspective, the peacefulness of a quiet house is still not outweighing the heightened anxiety and nervousness of wondering what troubles and dangers their child could encounter.  Will they make good choices?  Will they stay safe?  While you know you have raised them to have a good head on their shoulders, you also know college is a whole new world. 

What are some good ways to stay connected to your college student?

It can be a tricky balance to give your new Freshman the room to grow, but also keep a watchful eye.  Plus, you miss them. You don’t want to smoother them, yet you would love to hear how it’s going.

Here are a few simple suggestions to stay within arms reach even though the distance is great:

1)      FACEBOOK:  Honestly, it’s how today’s generation is staying in touch with each other and it can be a great way for you to stay in-the-loop as well.  Be a friend of your Freshman, and jump into the conversation…every once in awhile.  Watch, but don’t over-post.

2)      TEXT:  A quick “hi”, “Are you bringing your laundry home this weekend?”, or “I love you” a couple times a week can be easily answered and let’s you know they still care.  They are meeting new friends, and hopefully studying too, so give them some space and don’t text multiple times a day….they may do that with some of their friends, but that’s for them. 

3)      EMAIL:  Pretty much the same goes for email.  You get more space to write a short paragraph and share more information, but forget about forwarding the daily funny email.  Those daily emails start to stack up in an in-box, and then you feel sad that they don’t reply to every one.  A couple emails a week is manageable – make them quality not quantity.

4)      CAREPACKAGES:  These never go out of fashion!  A box that arrives at the dorm room is always an exciting event.  Who wouldn’t want more fresh-baked goodness from home.  Surprise your freshman with one in the mail every once in awhile, but don’t make it a regular routine or it will be expected.

5)      AUTOHABITS:  Of course we wouldn’t forget to mention our driver monitoring system as the perfect way to stay connected.  You were there, and you know how boundaries can be pushed to an unsafe level with cars and college.  Having an AutoHabits system in place gives you peace of mind that safe driving habits are still being practiced, even if you are miles away.

So, stay connected.  Be safe.  And find peace and rest in your new quiet home.