Graduating high school and finally going to college seemed like the greatest gift of all. You got to stay out as late as you wanted, eat whatever you chose, and best of all you weren’t around your mom every single day. But as the semester drags on, the reality is…you miss your mom. A lot. Even the things you despised most about living at home, you secretly want back. After reading this, it is completely acceptable and highly recommended (by The National Mother’s Corporation) to call your mom and just say, “Hi.”
1. Nagging:
Believe it or not, you miss your mom’s persistent nagging. It actually got you to do stuff, and now your pile of dirty laundry is sitting right next to your unmade bed, adjacent to the stack of homework you haven’t started that is due tomorrow. To get your mom to leave you alone, you used to do everything right away. But now that the voice of reason (we can all admit now that it was not nagging and there was a point to it) is gone and you actually have to, like, have responsibilities and stuff.
2. The hot gossip that you once thought was above you:
You used to roll your eyes at what your mom was saying about René down the street, thinking you were better than listening to suburban gossip. But now with school and classes keeping you busy, you miss the middle-aged drama that kept life interesting. What is René up to? What did she do now?
3. Her cooking:
Mom, this is me saying it right now: I miss your cooking. As much as I got tired of it and always suggested new recipes or restaurants, your food was amazing. Dining halls just don’t do it any sort of justice. You now obtain culinary chef status in my eyes. And the best part? It was free.
4. Hugs:
It is such a simple thing, but there is something indefinable and unexplainable about mom-hugs. Scientists have been working on this for years and have yet to understand how a mother’s hug can make all of your troubles melt away.
5. Shopping:
While shopping with your mom in high school was like pulling teeth— “that knee length dress is a little short,” “why on early would you waste your money on that, its so thin!” “And where exactly do you think you’re wearing that outfit to?”—she was the one person’s opinion you could rely on. She told you like it was, regardless if it hurt your feelings a little bit, because in the long run you knew she was looking out for your sense of fashion.
6. The hovering and over-protective force field she puts around you:
Back home, you just wanted to be able to do what you wanted and not have your mom apart of every aspect of your life. But now, you realize that she was just trying to look out for you and keep you safe. And when you didn’t listen to her sometimes irrational worrying (like not going outside with wet hair when it was below 40) she would be there to feed you soup and rub your back and tell you “I told you so” (but in a loving manner).
7. Driving you around:
Stepping out of the car and hearing “Have a great day, Peanut!” through the window was almost the equivalent of social suicide. But now that you don’t have a car in college, you realize you took those free rides to the mall/grocery store/dinner for granted. Now you contemplate if you should put in the effort to walk to Kroger or if you should just call an Uber and spend 10 dollars on a car ride your mom would have happily driven. And she would have let you put your feet on the dash.
8. Putting your things away in order to “clean”:
You used to think it was totally taboo and an invasion of personal space to have your mom touch your stuff, and most of the time she put it in the wrong place. You considered yourself grown up enough to be able to take care of yourself, so you didn’t need her to clean up after you. Now, you would cry of happiness if she cleaned your room. She also wants to do the laundry and reorganize the closet? I am 100% ok with that.
9. Her obnoxious laugh:
Listening to your mom drag out an entire story about how the grocery store didn’t have the kind of apples they used to and hearing her laugh at the end used to make you cringe. But now, you’ve probably realized that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Now you miss the laughs because even though it was a little obnoxious, you two could always laugh about something together and be just as obnoxious with no judgment.
10. Having a constant support system:
Even though at times you felt smothered by all the love and attention, now that its not there 25/8, you kind of miss it. Your mom is the only person that will be proud of you no matter what mistakes you’ve made. If you told her the boy down the hall broke your heart or that you failed your first Chemistry test, she would be there for you to listen to you cry and then take you out to ice cream. And although the taking you out for ice cream might be a little harder now that you are miles away, she still loves you more than you could possibly imagine and will always be there for you.