<p>I feel reassured in knowing I shouldn’t have skipped 2 classes for that internship interview that eventually landed me a full-time job and entry to grad school…it also kept me out after dark :)</p>
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<p>I missed this one. Somehow I think that’s one that will get a “sure, yeah, mom, I’ll do just that” and then the kid’s going to do what he or she wants anyway. I don’t think mom telling kid to avoid alcohol is going to mean a darn thing.</p>
<p>^my thoughts exactly. if you expect your college student to be “perfect” he/she is less likely to be open with you about their actual college transition. </p>
<p>relax mom, you’ve probably instilled enough of your advice already. frankly if your kid is a risk taker he/she won’t listen to any of this anyway, if your kid is anxious about the transition this will only make him/her even more scared.</p>
<p>I agree most of the OP’s letter is overkill and most of this stuff is already ingrained, especially the study skills.</p>
<p>My parting words were… Keep your door locked, keep track of your stuff because people steal things, don’t go out alone after dark, never leave your drink unattended, study hard, have fun and remember “you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”-Winnie the Pooh!</p>
<p>glopop, I really like that quote. Don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. Thanks for sharing =)</p>
<p>I counted… 38 of these items are things I either would not advise for my kid to start with, or no way in heck would me emailing/saying/writing in reverse on her forhead have any impact on whether she would do them or not.</p>
<p>Some of this looks reminiscent of items you’d see on a list for entering a country with a formal travel ban… or a very strict evangelical college.</p>
<p>Don’t go out after dark?</p>
<p>And interestingly I didn’t see anything about sexual activity. Must be presumed that won’t be happening.</p>
<p>^Wow, you read that far. Not to be rude, but I didn’t make it past number 3. My advice is: use that beautiful brain with which you have been endowed, be kind, be a gentleman and have fun exploring the new world in which you find yourself.</p>
<p>I wrote something along the lines of glopop’s words. She loved it. (I just didn’t think it was the time to admonish with a laundry list of do’s and don’ts.)</p>
<p>Now I want to write her another letter now that she is graduating but I have a serious case of writer’s block!</p>
<p>Boy do i feel like a big dope for just waving and yelling: “Have fun!”</p>
<p>BTW: Still her happy self. Graduated magna undergrad and summa grad</p>
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I don’t think I understand this one. Is it a fire hazard, or prone to being crushed if the kid doesn’t make his bed and just plops down on it unawares?</p>
<p>I simply told my kids “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”. Enough said.</p>
<p>Oh wait-- I almost forgot. I also shared the Mark Twain line “dont let school interfere with your education”. </p>
<p>And I left some cash under the sheets on top of the mattress pad. If they didnt wash their sheets, they never saw the $$ (also would be true if by some miracle they also washed the mattress pad at the same time. Oh well).</p>
<p>frazzled, maybe (throwing out something random here), for the laptop it’s because running it directly on a bed can cause it to overheat. </p>
<p>That’s all I’ve got.</p>
<p>Aww–don’t pick on hypermom. Already established that most people wouldn’t have her long list. Tell us what you’d say (said) to your kid. (I thought the laptop thing meant don’t leave it out where it can be easily seen/stolen, but I guess overheating makes more sense.)</p>
<p>I told S#1: “Stand up straight, look 'em in the eye, smile, do your best, call us when you get there.”</p>
<p>I said nothing but goodbye to my D, who thought she knew it all. Though she probably could’ve used the advice about not joining too many ECs and managing time wisely.</p>
<p>I told S#2 all kinds of things, like wash your sheets occasionally and how to get the airport shuttle to and from campus. But I wish I told him “Don’t run your key card through random locks around campus just because it makes a cool beeping noise–this will get you in trouble with campus security.”</p>
<p>^ I think you’ve got the wrong hyper there, ato =) (Unless I missed something lol).</p>
<p>I think my parents told me not to come home until Thanksgiving and left. (Goodnaturedly of course).</p>
<p>^^^ Thanks, romani - I should have been able to figure that out for myself! And jym, you have to tell us - did they ever find the cash?
Now there’s a great idea for a thread, atomom (if it hasn’t already been done) - “The obscure thing I didn’t warn my kid about that I wish I had.”</p>
<p>romani–edited, thanks. wrong hyper.</p>
<p>There was a thread on this incident and it was a long one–around Nov. '12–The title was “Student to be Questioned by Police” or something like that.</p>
<p>frazzled-
If they found it they never said!! (and true confessions-- when they moved into their freshman dorm room, my ceremonious last hurrah was to make their beds for them. It was probably never made again).</p>
<p>Younger s routinely used his laptop on his bed. First and second year the bed was lofted. You can guess what the end of that story is…
He would either fall asleep and it or roll over and it would fall on the floor, or he’d just knock it over.
So last year he had a bed on the floor-- just on a box spring. He put the laptop on the floor… and stepped on it. Goodbye screen. You can’t win…</p>
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LOL.</p>
<p>Reminds me of a true story. Freshman year of college a kid had a full head of curly blond hair (think decades ago when big hair was in). He decided he liked the hissing sound of his butane lighter, so he held it up to his ear and listened to the sound. Burning hair has a nasty smell. Goodbye bushy blonde hair.</p>