As your daughter’s eim bayit, I’ll tell her the things you forgot to tell her.
It’s time to think about what you’re going to tell your daughter before she leaves for seminary. Don’t worry, it’s not like you only have one chance to get this right: Your daughter will be phoning home a lot. Especially at the beginning. I overheard a girl on the phone ask her mother — who had never seen the seminary — “Where should I put my shoes?”
As your daughter’s eim bayit, I’ll tell her the things you forgot to tell her. She and I may develop a close relationship, and she might take what I say to heart. But she respects your opinion more than mine, and what you tell her will reverberate in her mind and in her heart forever. So let me suggest some discussion topics you might not have thought of.
The first thing to tell her is not to call home too often. She’ll have unlimited phone service, which makes it tempting to phone home frequently. But both of you want her to develop independence, and limiting phone time is a good way to start.
Almost everyone can use guidance about being a good roommate. Emphasize the value of being considerate and giving. She may also need you to teach her some life skills — like how to keep her room neat and how to do laundry — but there are harder skills she’ll need too, like when to consult with the staff, and not a classmate, about a friend’s problems.
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