As I write this, I am sitting at my son’s computer, in his apartment, just a few miles from Texas A&M University. Visiting him always provides me with new material.
1. It takes a long time for a college-aged boy to clean an apartment for the parents.
When I got here, I looked around and was, just like any mother would be, dismayed to see the condition of his bedroom. He saw the look on my face and exclaimed, “You should have seen it before I cleaned it!”
I’m glad I didn’t.
The first time I visited, he didn’t have much warning I was coming by. I don’t know if I can truly convey the condition of his bedroom when I arrived. There was a path from the door of the bedroom to his bathroom, with stuff piled high everywhere else.
I know there was a bed somewhere because he is always asleep when I call, but I couldn’t see it. And I know there was a computer somewhere because he always manages to e-mail when he needs money.
I have learned to start calling at least two weeks before I come.
2. College-aged boys will do whatever it takes to get food into their stomachs.
He made himself some macaroni and cheese.
He asked me, “Hey, did you know you can make macaroni and cheese in the microwave? It comes out as good as when you make it on the stove, too.” He was, of course, referring to the kind that comes in a box.
I had to admit I had never made macaroni and cheese in the microwave.
My curiosity got the best of me. “What prompted you to make macaroni and cheese in the microwave in the first place?”
“That would have come from the period of time when we had no pots in the kitchen.”
3. College-aged boys do not like to wash dishes.
He has finally realized that every time you cook something, it makes a big mess. You eat on plates, the mess is bigger. You pour yourself a glass of something, ditto.
It finally hit home that the dishes don’t magically disappear when Mom is not around.
So, he cooks in the microwave, eats straight from the Tupperware dish, and throws away the plastic cup. Cleaning up after a meal now takes about ten seconds.
4. College-aged boys like their parents to visit for one reason.
Parents pay for everything when they are in town … groceries, eating out, entertainment. College kids will never, ever have enough money for all the stuff they want to do.
