Last-minute
advice
From the Orientation 2009 Parent Newsletter
 Adapted
from You're
on Your Own (But I'm Here If You Need Me), by
Marjorie Savage, Simon & Schuster, 2009.
As bright July days fade into sweltering August nights, parents of college-bound
freshmen lie awake, sweating as much with dread as with heat: "Can he
balance a checkbook?" "What will she do if she gets sick?" I
don't think she understands how much trouble she can get into for underage
drinking."
You only have a few more weeks to pass along all the advice your child needs
to know.
High school graduates, however, rarely listen patiently as their parents deliver
warnings about campus safety or lectures on how the family's health insurance
works. The trick is to figure out when you're giving useful information versus
unwanted advice or an index of admonishments.
All students should know how to:
- Do their own laundry.
- Balance a bank account and manage a debit or credit card.
- Iron a shirt, replace a button, and repair a ripped seam.
- Prepare or obtain basic food.
- Trust their instincts when they feel uneasy or unsafe.
- Make responsible decisions regarding alcohol and drugs.
- Change a tire, make an appointment for an oil change, and operate
a car wash if they will have a car at school.
You may want to bring up topics as they pop into your mind. Your
student, however, will be in no mood to tear herself from the computer
for what sounds like another lecture.
Some parents say they have more success if they set an appointment with their
student and explain why the subject is important: "I notice that you're
getting a lot of credit card applications in the mail. I get those all the time,
too. I'd like to talk to you about the fine print on some of those applications
so that you can see what the actual costs are."
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