A Word to Parents of College Students

I don’t normally keep my cell phone by my bed.

(Do you?)

But for one night last week I did, for lots of reasons.

Because we live in a flood zone.

And because we have a generator which is supposed to keep all the critical elements of our basement (like sump pumps) running when we flood, but which has been a little bit finicky lately.

And because one day last week our power went out for an hour on a nice, warm, blue-sky September day.

Go figure.

And because B was out of town.

And because B was out of town and since he’s the keeper of the alarm clock and I have no earthly clue how to set the correct time on his alarm clock which got messed up when the power went out and because I needed to be awake at 6:00 a.m. on the next morning . . . I slept with my cell phone next to the bed.

Can I just tell all you parents of college students, either currently or in the future, DON’T SLEEP WITH YOUR CELL PHONE BY THE BED.

Whatever it is can wait until morning.

Because on that particular night last week when the power went out and B was out of town and I didn’t know how to set the time on his alarm clock and my cell phone became my only source of time or alarm, my little text message alert went off.

At 1:22.

In the morning.

And in the 0.86 seconds it took to reach my cell phone to see who was texting me in the middle of the night I thought of about a thousand different ways my college student could be in trouble.

Maybe she had gotten into an accident.

Maybe she was deathly ill.

Maybe she had broken her leg in some freak human pyramid the kids were building in the dorm lobby.

Maybe she was just sick of all the socializing and needed to vent.

I couldn’t possibly imagine why my college student (of course it had to be her because WHO ELSE would text me in the middle of the night?!) would need me.

At 1:22.

A.M.

Want to know the nature of the emergency? I know you do.

I’ll let her tell you in her own words.

“Mommy can you bring me earplugs tomorrow?”

Sure, honey, I’ll bring you earplugs.

I'll be there at 1:22.

A.M.