Nothing says homesick like a sick college student. Listen in on my cell phone conversations this past week with College Daughter:
Wednesday
Me: Hello?
Her: I'm Sick.
Me: What's wrong?
Her: I'm really hot. I think I have a fever.
Me: Did you take some Motrin?
Her: Yes, but it didn't help, as usual (because my kids will never admit to ANY medicine EVER making them feel any better).
Thursday
Me: Hello?
Her: I feel like crap. Now I have a really bad sore throat.
Me: Go to the student health center and ask for a strep test.
Her: Mom, you don't know how I feel.
Me: I don't care how you feel. Go get a strep test. You won't have to pay anything. It's free (or shall we say, it's included in the exorbitant tuition we're paying).
Her: I don't know when it's open.
Me: I'm online right now and looking.........ok, get down there. It opens at 10 a.m.
(An hour later)
Her: I didn't have strep. They told me to gargle with salt water. How am I going to do that?
Me: Ask for some salt packets at the cafeteria. And keep taking the Motrin.
Her: I really feel like crap.
Me: I'm sorry to hear that. I've got to go, bye!
Friday (I'm in a grocery store)
Me: Hello?
Her: I just called to tell you I threw up twice.
Me: Um.....ok.......what am I supposed to do about that?
Her: I just thought you'd like to know.
Me: Oh, ok. Well, good luck on your big test today.
(Multiple calls made rest of day to her two siblings, looking for sympathy.)
Saturday
Me: That's good.
Her: Well, it turned into a cold and now I have a cough too.
Me: I think you took some cold meds with you when you moved.
Her: Oh. I almost forgot to tell you. I'm so excited......I'm going to Chipotle tomorrow with some friends.
Me: Do you really think that's a good idea, considering you threw up yesterday?
Her: Oh mom!
Footnote: My kids all consider me the "unsympathetic mom" when they are sick. They always say I'm "mean" when they are sick. Well, yeah.
**I apologize for the poor layout of this post. My Blogger is sick today too!
Don't you know it's your duty to drive to her, take care of her, and give her lots of sympathy? WHAT KIND OF PARENT ARE YOU?
ReplyDeleteThat was sarcasm, by the way.
Hmm. The times I was sick in college, I didn't even think about calling my Mom. But then, I didn't call my Mom very often at all (and I still don't). Maybe I was a crappy son. I suppose you should be happy she wants to call you. :-)
We are very close. She calls or e-mails me everyday. She's never been a big baby about anything, so I think she was just homesick.
ReplyDeleteMostly, she calls to ask me what we are having to eat for Thanksgiving. She's a little excited about coming home for some real food.
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ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of one time I was sick, when I was in college. I came down with the sinus infection from hell, which rendered me essentially non-functional after about 1PM every day for a couple weeks.
ReplyDeleteSo I went to the campus clinic, got a prescription for an antibiotic, an industrial-strength decongestant, and Darvocet.
Fortunately, my last class ended about 1PM, so I could go to all my classes and take a Darvocet as I hurried thru lunch, after which I slept until just before the dinner line closed. Then I'd do homework for a couple hours, take another round of meds, and sleep for 10 hours. Then do the same thing the next day.
Looking back, it's kind of a miracle that I actually finished that term, and with pretty typical grades.
But, no - I never called my folks, until I was better.
And yes, you are a hard, hard, mom. . . ;)
Had the student health center prescribed a burrito earlier in the week, maybe her bug would have been knocked out sooner! Burritos can be quite cathartic.
ReplyDeleteDesmond - I never knew sinus infections could last so long until recently. Hopefully, you are no longer a sufferer.
ReplyDeleteFADKOG - She has this Chipotle obsession and I've never even been to one. But yeah, that would be advice she could really sink her teeth into.
Amazing how times have changed... When I colleged and called home, first thing Mom said was "This had better be an emergency!". With today's many options (cell phone with mobile-to-mobile, e-mail, IM, facebook, webcams) it seems like they never leave home. We hear daily updates, sometimes multiple.
ReplyDeleteFortunately we've not yet hit the infirmary.
I've been 'blessed' with roughly one sinus infection per year, for most of my adult life, altho that one in college was far and away the worst I've ever had. I've figured out that, if I just go to bed for a couple days early on in the process, they go away a lot better. . .
ReplyDeleteAnd, just to continue with the theme of 'then vs now' - my freshman year, my dad would call me every Friday afternoon, just before suppertime, as he was leaving work. My first impulse was to be a little irked by it; I mean, college students on Friday night have PLANS, dontchaknow. But eventually, it occurred to me that my dad missed me, and maybe worried about me the least little bit. And that was a whole new point of view for me - I had never thought of my dad as being even the tiniest bit 'vulnerable'. . .
Xavier - our wireless-to-wireless is free and doesn't use up any of our minutes. But if it was long distance we were paying for, nope, I'd be limiting the calls.
ReplyDeleteDesmond - yeah, Dads are allowed to miss their kids too. I had to remind College Daughter to call Dad sometimes too.
Oh, thank goodness. I thought I was the only mean mom to a sick kid. Whew, what a relief.
ReplyDeleteMy kids manage to make it seem like they're being sick is somehow my fault. Thelack of an instant cure is proof of my sadism.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog. You would be welcome to come crack a cold one with me and listen to 'Bad Company'.
Mama - I always tell them they need to wash their hands better. They think that's really mean!
ReplyDeleteTrooper - Good to see you again. Got any 'Boston'?
oh lordy, i've been taking care of a puking senior all week. this is what i have to look forward to huh?
ReplyDelete... but Mommies just make it all better! =)
ReplyDeleteLime - I look forward to your posts next year - LOL!
ReplyDeleteLB - I guess I am a pretty cool mom :)