Whether or not your parents come up specifically for parents weekend, the fact is, your parents are going to come up and visit some time during the school year. Once you’ve gotten settled into your independent college life, dealing with parents can be an alarming readjustment. From someone who’s been there before, here are some tips to survive parent visitations and make it seem like you have your life together.
Clean Clean Clean!:
No one wants to deal with comments from their parents about how messy their dorm, room or house is. After all, it’s your space away from them where one of the joys is not having to conform to the standards of your parents. However, the comments will likely come, so the best choice is to just clean before they get there. Hide stuff in your closet or under your bed if need be. The point is that it just has to seem clean. You get the smug satisfaction of seeing your parents, who likely doubted you, be wrong, while also seeming like you have your life together (which we all know is a lie!)
Hide the Booze:
Probably obvious, but worth a mention. Since Hamline is a dry campus, it doesn’t matter how your parents feel about you drinking, hide your alcohol before they come. Either they’re strict about alcohol and the reason to hide your alcohol is obvious, or they’re chill with you drinking and you might be able to convince them to buy you more. Whatever the case may be, it’s always a good case to hide the booze.
If You’re Not Smart About Your Classes…:
…then be smart about how you talk about them. To your parents, who might not have seen you since you moved away, “Fine” might not cut it with “How are your classes going?” Tell your parents as much as you can about any projects or quizzes, especially if you’re particularly worried about a specific test or class and don’t want to talk about it. It’s all about the smoke screen. If you say everything is good and perfect, though, they might get suspicious. You have to give them something. So maybe mention that five point quiz that tripped you up last week, but leave out the super important exam next week. Also, it’s always good to talk about how busy you are with work and studying and whatever you have going on. Leave out the fact that you binged all of Stranger Things season two this weekend.
Remember They’re Your Parents:
Sometimes it can feel like parents are crashing your newfound independence, but remember they love you and they’re visiting because they miss you and/or want to support you. Besides, chances are you’ll get some free not-Anderson food, so that is always a bonus. Enjoy the time with your parents, make them feel loved and appreciated, and go back to your regularly scheduled independence after they leave. Besides, they’re on call 24/7 when you need them. The least that you can do is give them a weekend every now and then.
Hopefully you feel prepped and prepared for your parents to visit. Remember to hug them and tell them you love them, because you’ll be needing them soon when your car randomly decides to break down, or you need help figuring out how to cook without ruining anything.