Call Your Parents More Than Just When You Need Something!

As busy as you may become while in college, there’s always time for a quick call home, right? You might think so, but you also might be guilty of calling home only when you need something … like more money! In all honesty, hopefully you think of your parents for more than that reason, but finding time to call home can be tough. College life isn’t very conducive to calling home, as college life’s schedule is defined by lack of a schedule. You might be up studying, at a night class, or out to a party, leaving you without a chance or a regular time to call home.

Then, when you do have to call home, there will usually be a reason behind it, a reason other than just to see how mom and dad are doing (although you can bet they’ll be wondering how you’re doing!). If you do get into the habit of calling only when you need something, you can really surprise them by calling just to check in. It will be an appreciated call.

There are, of course, parents who call too much. You wake up, mom’s on the phone. You brush your teeth, dad’s on the phone. You get to class, mom’s calling again … cause she forgot to say “love you” when you hastily hung up the first time! Calls from parents can get a little excessive, so it sometimes helps to make a schedule. As mentioned, it can be tough sticking to a day-to-day calling routine since college life can be so chaotic. Still, if you plan to talk every night, or even every other night, in the evening, you’ll have looser guidelines that will still provide a chance to talk.

While being busy can be a somewhat legitimate excuse for not making a call home when you know you should, there’s no reason you can’t keep that call brief. With the five or ten minutes it takes to walk to class, you can make that needed call and waste no time at all! (And if you need a reason to get off the phone, well, we don’t think your parents will object to you wanting to get to class on time.) Sometimes, too, even though you’ll be doing new things every day, it can feel like there’s not a lot to talk about. The truth is, it doesn’t matter that much! You’re just talking to your parents. You can say pretty much anything, it’ll keep them happy.

The only tough part can be if they ask about a sensitive subject, such as grades. While there’s no need to lie about things, there’s also no need to get into the exact numbers if the numbers aren’t so great. But you will be lying if you say that you’re trying and you’re not! So be sure you’re putting in some effort academically.

The bottom line is, it’s a universal rule that parents like when you call. It doesn’t have to be for a long conversation and it doesn’t have to be for any specific reason. Just make the call when you’re not in need of something, and it’ll make their day. Now, even if you didn’t have the best relationship with your parents, what’s a quick call compared to having to live with them? It isn’t too much to ask, and it will be an appreciated effort.