You may not realize it now, but your parents will be lifelines when you graduate from high school. You may not think much about how your life will change when you graduate and move out, or just move on with a new chapter in your life. Or maybe you think too much about what your life will be like when you no longer live with your parents. Either way, what you probably don’t realize is that you’ll miss your life as it is now more than you think.
Your schedule revolves around whether or not someone can drive you places. Or if you can use the car that day. You always have to let your parents know where you’re going and about how long you think you’ll be gone from home. There are rules and restrictions in place that you probably resent now. What you don’t realize is that there will be a time when your parents won’t be around to ask you about your day, cook you dinner, or celebrate your birthday with you.
When you finally leave home, you’ll come to appreciate the family you grew up with and all the memories you shared with them. You might not enjoy your lack of freedom now, but you will come to know that despite it, you’ll miss what you had with your parents.
It’s easy to get sucked into college life and forget to call home. You’ll be involved with classes and clubs and figuring out a whole new social life that takes up all of your time. When the time comes that you do finally call home, you just won’t know where to start. You have to catch your folks up on what’s been going on the past few weeks instead of the past few hours. There will come a time when you go home one weekend or for a holiday and you’re struck by just how much you miss the place you grew up in. Life has moved on at home without you and you’re just going to have to come to terms with it.
Sooner than you think you’ll be shoved into reality and forced to move on with your own life without that comfort and familiarity that you may take for granted now.
So here is some advice from a college student who tries to stay connected with her parents and her childhood as much as possible:
Try to eat meals with your family as often as you can.
Talk to your parents. Tell them what’s going on in your life so they’re not constantly guessing and so you have a better relationship.
When you do leave home, give them a call more than once a month.
Cherish the moments you get to spend with them, because you will miss them when you’re gone.
Your parents will always be there for you when you need them. Learn to appreciate them now so when you eventually move out, you don’t have to relearn how much they mean to you.
-Emmy Boes