The question preceding that one would be, how could you possibly raise your kids this way?
Let's back up. Today a former student came in to visit (we had a teacher work day today, students return tomorrow). He's now an RA in college and he shared with me some of the questions he's been asked. Parents, I marvel at the idea of
a) sheltering your child so much that they have to ask such questions, and
b) letting such a sheltered child out of your house to go away to college.
Here are just three of the questions he's been asked.
1) How do you do laundry?
2) (asked just a couple hours before the final move-out time) Do you have a suitcase I can borrow?
3) (when told there were no extra suitcases lying around) Can I take a garbage bag on the plane?
These students attend a $60,000/year private school.
If you had to guess, would you think these questioners are majoring in engineering or related fields? :-)
2 comments:
At one of the new-student-and-parent orientation sessions, the fire chief of a huge flagship university said that the main cause of fires on campus was pizzas being reheated in dorm kitchen oven - in their paper delivery boxes.
Also, the mom from one of my son's teams brought her older son home from college and discovered that he had not washed his bedsheets for the entire year (they went from the car to the garbage can).
My kids aren't perfect, but they knew how (and when) to do laundry, iron clothes, cook decent meals from scratch and clean house - as middle schoolers. (one in an engineering field and three with majors in the business school)
As an RA my daughter would get calls from parents telling her to wake up kids for class. One mother became so insistent and called several times a day that my daughter finally told her she was meant to provide security, not concierge service. And that doesn't even touch having to break up fights between roomates or reminding students that they have to clean their own bathrooms before they leave school. Honestly some of our wealthiest students are incapable of living on their own.
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