So, how often do you hear from your college student, and through what medium?

[ereks mom]

I am wondering, because I don't hear from ER nearly as often as I'd like. He calls home occasionally -- once a week or less. We don't call him much because his schedule is pretty erratic, and we never know when is a good time for him to talk. He does text us pretty often -- usually every couple of days. That is, if WE text HIM first, he will respond, but he rarely initiates the exchange. He is on Facebook a few times a week, and I'll leave a comment on his wall now and then (I've done this maybe twice), and again, he will respond, but rarely will he initiate the exchange. I know he's busy, but sometimes I wonder if he'd even notice if we didn't contact him! :001_unsure:

Edited January 24, 2009 by ereks mom

[ereks mom]

...you can select the medium! :D

[Sandy in Indy]

I hear from my dd every day...she lives at home. School is just 15 minutes away.

 

Next year ds will start college--also 15 minutes away but the opposite direction! He'll be home every night as well.

[laughing lioness]

We hear from our dd a couple of times a week by email. She and her sis FB (w/ me too, I'm just not on there much) and we call once a week. She was feeling really neglected because we didn't call more often:). She said other moms called their kids once a day, or texted several times a day-eek! I do really miss her, but I still have a life going on! The other mom's have 1-2 kids, work p.t. or not at all and don't homeschool.

[LibraryLover]

Ours emails about once a week, but i will call him about twice a week. He rarely calls me, but always answers.returns my calls. He also talks to his dad on the phone about once a week. Must be said that he doesn't call anyone-- he only texts. I don't text and his dad doesn't. ;) lol

[Ria]

I have 19-yr old twins who are sophomores in college (different schools).

 

DD calls/texts/emails almost daily. DS, left to his own devices, would contact us very rarely. However, if I text him, I hear from him daily. I know he loves to hear from me, and even an "LOL" is good to see.

 

Ria

[jejily]

DS19 stays in regular contact. He usually calls at least once a week, and will send short text messages every couple days. His emails are more irregular, and he rarely leaves me comments on FB, but will respond to comments I leave for him. Through FB, though, I get a window into his world there at school. I am also "friends" with his girl friend, and I have really enjoyed being able to chat with her and to see their pictures, etc.

[Tokyomarie]

I hear from my girls regularly, thanks to mobile-to-mobile minutes. We're not a texting family here- it's all voice. My oldest didn't have a cell phone her first couple of years away- if I called her room phone& she happened to be in, we talked, otherwise we e-mailed or IM'ed. I talk to my current college student daughter a couple times a week usually; we both initiate depending on the need. Our calls usually are initiated with a specific purpose in mind but we usually chat for 15 or 20 minutes afterwords. Like I say, mobile-to-mobile minutes makes calling easy.

 

My oldest is now married and I talk to her about twice a week usually. She lives out of state now. We are also now FB friends. (My college student daughter has not chosen to add me yet.)

 

My dh is a typical male; he would not initiate phone calls with his family at all after we got married, I placed all the calls or reminded him to call on holidays. He has always gotten on well with his parents but just isn't a phone talker- except when he was courting me ;). I'll be curious to see what my son does when he goes off to college.

[mom2abcd]

You're getting more from your son than I am.:o( 1st year and we have no set plan, though we started talking about making a plan after Christmas. He did do better after Christmas, answering our emails, phone messages, etc. But I haven't heard from him for two weeks and I'm curious about his new job, the weeknd he spent at a friend's house, etc.

 

He's having a GREAT time, I know. But I do wish he would call once a week. Or respond to our contacts.

 

Dh has Facebook and IMs with him sometimes (or is it through gmail?) I need to get signed up for whatever it is. Dh hasn't heard from him in the two weeks either. He did IM with his sister so we know he's alive at least;o)

 

After Christmas he called and I think was a bit homesick. I think he's in the swing of things again, but maybe he's afraid he'll get homesick if he calls. More likely he's just busy studying and having fun.

[ereks mom]

DS, left to his own devices, would contact us very rarely. However, if I text him, I hear from him daily. I know he loves to hear from me, and even an "LOL" is good to see.

 

Yep, that sounds like ER. He will always text back if I text him first, but his answers are almost always practically monosyllabic. ;)

[Garga]

I don't have kids in college, but I remember when I moved out I almost never called my parents (that's all that was available in 1992--the phone or letters.)

 

I didn't even realize I was supposed to call them. I was finally on my own and having so much fun being an adult, I totally forgot that my parents still wanted to hear from me. It was selfish, I know, but I was just 19 (and sometimes you get a bit selfish when you're 19.)

 

I'm hoping to brainwash my kids now, so that when they go to college they'll feel compelled to call me all the time ;).

[Danestress]

that he probably wouldn't notice for a while if you didn't contact him. And I hate to say this, but that's pretty normal. His life is full of people right now who are interesting to him and he is doing work that means something and has deadlines and pressures, and he's just occuppied with those things.

 

I am very close to my parents. Very. I live a mile from them and see them all the time. But in college I definitely could go more than a week without calling them, or really even thinking that much about them. I just had other things on my mind at the time. Those were the years of my life when I was most disconnected from my parents, but I wouldn't have even thought of it as "disconnected." It wasn't good or bad - it's just the way it naturally was.

 

And honestly, most of my friends, male or female, don't talk to their parents more than once a week unless their parents live right nearby or there is a problem. I know some women call their Mom's everyday, and that's okay too. But adults calling parents once a week is pretty normal - especially male adults. My husband loves his mother soooo much. He loves her, loves spending time with her, admires her and just really truly enjoys her. And when she lived in another state, he might call her twice a month.

 

I understand your pain, though. It's a really hard transition. I have a son in college and I would love a daily chat with him. He probably calls once or twice a week. Some weeks he calls more, but usually when he has a problem. He might text DH or I a few times a week - but he also might not. I know he loves us and he does like to visit. Sometimes he calls his brothers.

[Karen in CO]

My ds doesn't have a cell phone or easy access to a phone in Tokyo. Skype has been awesome. His laptop and mine both have cameras so we can see each other. The girls enjoy seeing him, but they usually cry after we are done.

 

Other than a weekly skype call, he emails if he has important news and I text him a couple of times a week with instant messanger - we are actually "chatting" right now. We have a huge time difference that is hard for us to work around. Mostly I just like reassurng myself that he is still okay.