How to Reconnect with Your College Kid?

Your kids are all grown up and have gone to college. On one side, you’re super proud and happy that they have chosen the right path in life and are continuing their studies. On the other side, though, you know that you’ll see them less and less often, until one day, you become estranged and distant.

But you don’t want that to happen to you. You want to stay in touch with your babies, but not be pushy. Hm. There’s a thin line between what’s considered caring and being a really boring parent.

First of all, college kids have their own friends, activities, and of course, social media and video games. You simply don’t fit in anymore. On the other hand, you also have your work and friends, and finding the time to spend a one-on-one, quality time with your kid is almost impossible.

Secondly, and more importantly, finding the right, the cool activity where you won’t turn out to be the old-fashioned parent is so risky and needs planning and researching.

Observe

You should start with observance. Paying attention to details is essential. Keeping track of who they’re hanging out with, what games they prefer, what places they frequent, and what genre of movies they like… Look for subtle clues and write down everything you’ve discovered.

Plan Your Time

This is also a difficult part, as you cannot schedule the date without their permission and without making plans beforehand. You have to carefully coordinate your schedules. Casually ask for their day off college and see whether they can spend an hour or two with you.

The Fun Part: Think of a Few Activities

Now that you’ve done your research and your date offer have been accepted, you have to have at least 3 activities prepared and suggest with the hope of being accepted. Millennials nowadays are into social media, video games and hanging out with friends. Though you’d probably love to be their friend, naturally, you cannot replace their friends nor the time spent with them. So the third option of the popular ones is out. We’re left with the social media and video games.

For a fun time playing video games, you can stay in or go out, whatever you like. If you’re more for the home option, make sure you prepare sandwiches and snacks, buy juice and grab your laptop. Sign up here and look at the tabs. You’ll find many games that you can both play for free while you’re enjoying your meal. Even if you’re more for the outside option, you can do the same on your mobile. Just don’t mention typical board games. They’re out.

As for social media, there’s a lot of things you could do to make your kids feel cool. Take them bowling, laser tagging or shopping and you’ll see that they’ll post moments of your date online, hopefully, with you included in the photo.

Or, as additional ideas, you can ask your kid to go to the movies, go for a drive and maybe find a nice place for a picnic and a little catching-up-time, or simply rent a Netflix movie of their choosing. That always works.