The hardest part about going away to college for some people is leaving their family behind. It may seem ridiculous when your mom gives you random hugs, asks how your day at school was every day on the way home, asks where you’re going, but she does it out of the irrevocable love she has for you. Here are a few reminders about how great your mom is:
1. She calls you at least every couple of days, or texts you asking how your day was.
The conversation is completely arbitrary but it quickly becomes part of your routine the first month of freshman year. There are days when you don’t want to talk to her because you’re busy or stressing about your work, but just remember she’s just as stressed as you are but is still thinking about you in the back of her mind.
2. She hugs you for way too long when you come home for break or even just for the weekend.
“Personal space, Mom!” You love having your personal space, and having such a long contact with your mom makes you uncomfortable. Just remember, she’s been counting the minutes since you left just to give you that hug, it only makes sense it’s as long as the amount of time you’ve been gone, or at the very least longer than usual just to make up for lost time.
3. She wants you to be safe in everything you do.
“I’m going off campus with a couple of friends,” you say. Her heart skips a beat- she wants to know where you’re going. You roll your eyes and assure her it’s a safe area. Even though she knows it’s fine, she still thinks about you all day that day, texting you throughout the day about things your siblings do to make sure you’re still okay.
4. She reminds you to take your medicine when you’re sick at school.
Flu season is in full swing right now, and most students are sick in some form of the word. Your mom hasn’t stopped worrying about you since you talked on the phone last and is already thinking of ways to get up to school if you take a turn for the worse, even if it’s literally just a head cold. Her heart is beating out of her chest thinking of how much pain you’re in, but she doesn’t want you to know how worried she is over the phone and scare you because she knows you’re worried too, so she simply tells you to take a hot shower, get lots of rest and drink lots of water even though she wants to tell you to come straight home until you’re feeling better.
5. She tells you how proud she is of you when you get a good grade.
She knows you worked your butt off to get that A on your midterm, and she wants you to know it. She remembers every pained word of your conversation when you were stressing about the test and wants to remind you of how hard you work. She wants to hang the arbitrary paper on her fridge like when you were younger, even going so far as to tell you to send it home for her. “But Mom my professor wants it back, I can’t!” is the most heartbreaking phrase she’s ever heard, but she doesn’t let you know.