Like most kids his age around the country, my son, CollegeBoy, just left for school.
The difference: This September, his school is in China. And he’ll be there for a year.
I’ve read (and written) much about helicopter parents, Velcro parents and just plain obsessive parents. But rarely have I seen anything about parents of kids who are studying abroad — henceforth to be known as Skype parents. The only way these brave creatures experience their offsprings’ lives is through brief, stilted (but free) communications over a small screen. Especially when their kids rarely answer emails. Or won’t allow their mothers to text them. And will in NO WAY permit us to friend them on Facebook. Although their father and all their mother’s friends can.
Any mothers of young children who are reading this — everything they tell you about how quickly it goes is true. I swear it was just yesterday that I was proudly taking back-to-school photos, walking him to nursery school, baking cupcakes for birthday parties, and chaperoning class trips.
Instead, it was only days ago that I checked, for the third or fourth time, that he had packed his passport and visa, gotten all of his shots, knew where he was going once the plane landed and how to get there and — yes, AGAIN — would call us when he landed and Skype us every Sunday.
My point? Moms really do relate to the kind of technology that has meaning — that helps them keep their families together or create memories or manage their kids’ lives. If Skype is not targeting moms of kids studying abroad, it’s missing a great opportunity. So is Kleenex. And probably Absolut. And can’t some smart company invent something which we can simply implant in our offspring while they are asleep that will transmit back to their parents exactly where they are and what they are doing? Or maybe just add to those inoculations they have to get? To keep them safe? And their mothers parents sane?
After all, what’s the point of GPS if you can’t use it to track your kids? I mean, where is 21st century technology when you really need it, anyway?
Oops. Gotta go. Skype call incoming….
