When my youngest kid left for college this past fall, we went through some significant homesickness. She has always been my “velcro” kid and loves to be home and a part of things. There were a lot of tears and feelings of “I don’t want to go” happening. As a parent that likes to always see her kids happy – this broke my heart. I didn’t know how to help – so I resorted to the Internet to guide me in what to do. After reading a few posts – I decided on my own methods.
Suggestion 1 – Stay home
The first suggestion I read was to stay home. Well – 2 weeks into school – I went up to see her and I brought her boyfriend with. It was a very nice weekend and we got to spend some good time together. Yes – there were tears when we left, but I wanted her to know that she is only a car ride away and I’m always up for a trip.
Suggestion 2 – Encourage your kid to be friendly and outgoing
This idea is fine, but how to do that during a pandemic brings about a whole new challenge. One month into school and the entire dorm floor of girls had not even been able to get together and meet everyone.
Suggestion 3 – Resist the temptation to call or text frequently
I completely disagree with this one. I’ve talked with my daughter literally every day since she’s been at school. I’m frequently able to talk her off the ledge when she is feeling crazy or lonely. When she is driving to school and feeling sad – we talk and I do a crossword puzzle asking her the clues and seeing if she can guess them. We’ve played scrabble online and update each other multiple times throughout the day to stay close.
Suggestion 4 – Try a lot of things
Again – this is great in theory, but again, during a pandemic, this isn’t quite possible. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, my daughter decided to join a sorority. That has been a great experience for her and quite educational for me.
So I guess the moral of the story is – everyone has their suggestions – but ultimately, you need to do what works best for you!
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