Saturday, April 11, 2009

Parenting a College Student

Parenting a college student is tough. I know. I have two of them.

Some of my friends ask if my job isn't finished by now. This surprises me. At 40 (ish) there are times when I still wish I had my mom to talk to. Even though she didn't do a great job she was still my mom. That goes the same for Dad. This tells me that even though the job may change, you never really stop parenting.

Last week my oldest daughter just went out of state with college friends. She now reports that she is badly sunburned, has been to the doctor twice and had to be given steroids. Over the phone from thousands of miles away she's calling to ask what else can be done for the sunburn. I made suggestions and told her that I'm sorry she's hurt. What else can I do?

It's "only" a sunburn. In the grand scheme of things (cancer risk aside) it's a sunburn is minor. Next time, she'll listen better and actually use the sunscreen she took with her. It's a lesson learned that life had to teach.

But dealing with that lesson is a bit of parenting that I had to teach.

Thanks Mom and 2nd Mom!

If my daughter is reading this, here are some links for sunburn care.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/sunburn
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/sunburn/article_em.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sunburn/DS00964

No comments:

Post a Comment