Embrace Technology - It Is Your Parenting Friend

When I was parading around to college orientations, a common theme for the parent sessions seemed to be "Not worrying when your college student doesn't contact you". I heard this at both colleges so I think it must be a popular talk. The college employee doing the talks would even go so far as to tell parents under which circumstances someone would try to track down your child for you or how to talk to someone to find out if your child is, in fact, still alive.Oh, I laughed. Maybe not out loud but under my breath. Neither of the little darlings I was sending away to school would ever neglect to call, text or write his or her mother. Not the woman that has loved and adored them for 18 years. Not the woman that gave them life. Not my sweet angels.At one college, the man even told a very funny story about a dad who hadn't heard from his son in weeks. Couldn't reach him by any means. So, he mailed a card that said how proud he was of his son and explained that was why he was enclosing $100. Of course, he enclosed no money. His son called immediately.My daughter left for college and sent me a text before I even got back on the interstate. She texts me all the time. Calls every couple of days. Sends me emails. It is perfect. She is perfect.
My son...well, let's just say that all that laughing under my breath came back to bite me on the backside.Once he is on his campus, we apparently cease to exist in his mind. No texts, no emails, no phone calls. No replies to texts, emails or phone calls we send. He is not perfect.

So, at the end of last semester I found myself at the end of my rope. I needed to plan picking him up. I wanted to talk to him. I couldn't figure out how to do it.

I thought about the card and money trick. There were several problems with that. First, the mail. Now, I love the good old postal service. Sending a letter has always been an incredible bargain. That's not the issue. Stamps are the issue. First, I have to find one. And if, by some miracle, I do find one at the bottom of some drawer, then I have to figure out how much the darn thing is worth. Why, oh please tell my why, do they not just print the value on the stamp? I have even resorted to looking up photos of stamps on the internet. Often, I just grab a handful and glue them all on there. Better safe than sorry. What a nuisance.

So, the letter was out. Besides, I figured he never checked his mailbox anyway.

Then, in a glorious moment when the heavens opened up and inspiration spilled down, it came to me. I sent him a text that said, "Since your phone is obviously not working, I am canceling your account."My phone rang three seconds after I hit the "send" button.

No, our communication is still not perfect. However, I have mastered using the technological age we live in to coerce and blackmail my children.

I'd say that's worth the price of a college education, wouldn't you?