Your child may be moving away from home for some time, but your relationship doesn’t have to suffer because of it. According to medical research, parents’ time demands and insistence on the student’s fulfillment of various social roles led to stress, anxiety, and strained relations. To avoid that, here are some tips you can apply to your social interactions to make both sides adjust to the change more easily.
1.Respect Their New Life/Study Schedule
College is a time of great change for young people, and parents should accommodate for that as much as possible. If you have been to college, you know how difficult it is to find friends and adjust to a new life/study schedule. Be a pillar of support for your student instead of assuming a defensive position. Don’t guilt-trip them about not visiting home often enough, and instead ask if you can help them organize their time better.
2. Make Use of Various Video Chatting Platforms
Luckily, technology has advanced enough that you can easily set up video calls with your student at any time of the day. Instead of calling them out of the blue, set up times in which you will speak during the week. The platforms you can use to video chat as much as you want include:
- Skype
- Zoom
- Viber
- Facebook Messenger
3. Write Them a Letter or Send a Small Package
Writing letters may seem antiquated by today’s standards, but you can still do it to surprise your student a bit. They will most likely appreciate your efforts to stay in touch and may write back to you as well. You can rely on dissertation writing services to write more comprehensive papers or essays if you write letters only once in a month or two. You can also send them small packages with a new piece of clothing or canned foods which they will greatly appreciate.
4. Invite Them and Their Friends Over for a Weekend
Instead of trying to visit your student personally at the campus or in their apartment (which can be awkward), why not do the opposite? Invite them and their close social circle to visit your home for a weekend. This will allow you to meet their peers and get a good feeling of how well-adjusted your student is to college. Inviting friends over to their hometown will also give them a chance to improve their relations with other students.
5. Don’t Surprise Them with Sudden Visits or Holiday Plans
College life can often be stressful and unpredictable, especially when it comes to project deadlines, essays, and exams. While you may have good intentions in wanting to treat your student to a holiday or to visit them, don’t do it without discussion. For example, your student may have writing assignments coming up and want to dedicate themselves to them. If you want to surprise them positively, you can take care of their essays or assignments through LetsGradeIt to ensure they are plagiarism-free. They will still appreciate a heads up if you intend to plan a trip together soon.
6. Casually Ask About Their College Obligations and Social Life
It’s only natural that you would want to know as much about your student’s college and social life as possible. Instead of stalking them on social media, bring up these topics during your phone or video calls. Ask about their projects, friends, and lifestyle casually as if it’s not a big deal. Respect their decisions and advise them if they ask for help.
7. Adjusting to Having a College Student Away from Home (Conclusion)
Having your child move away from home and go to college can be painful, but it’s not the end of your relationship, far from it. Thanks to technology, you can easily stay in touch with them and not miss a beat of their lives if that’s what they want. Don’t go behind their backs to find out things about their college lives because they will find out about it. Healthy relationships are built on trust, and the more respectful you are of their decisions, the more they will open up to you over time.
Bio: Merissa Moore is a digital marketing specialist, copywriter, and social media manager working with a variety of renowned brands online. Her writing skills and portfolio extend to articles, research papers, and case studies in a variety of trending digital marketing niches. She is a mother of two and an avid fan of autobiographic writing.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.