Page 14 - UMKC Parent and Family Insider

14
STAYING IN TOUCH
fBy Diane Schwemm
One of the hardest things about sending our children off to college is the loss of daily contact.
If you and your student text or talk every day, you may not need to read any further. For the rest of us, it’s normal sometimes to be anxious, sad or frustrated by the silence that can stretch between us.
“The hardest part of Dylan’s first year was not knowing what he was up to,” Eileen remembered. “What did he have for
dinner? What are his friends like?” If she made a mistake initially, it was trying to check in with him all the time — “but I got over that!” She started to relax when she realized he was figuring things out on his own. The minimal communication was a mark of his growing independence.
How do you determine the right amount of contact? Beth in California said, “I don’t want to hover but I want them to know that I care and want to know how they’re doing. With two very independent sons, I initiate most of the contact.”