Heaps of moldy laundry, snarly moods, spontaneous "borrowing"? Everyone's got a bad roommate story to share. But there's a silver lining too. Here are five good things about bad roommates - and thus five reasons to relax and let your child tackle his roommate issues on his own, or with the help of the dorm Resident Assistant, not Mommy:
- Terrible roommates help your child build resilience, flexibility and adaptability. No one gets good at the art of compromise and diplomacy without practice.
- Bad roommates encourage your child to leave his dorm room, get out there and meet new people - which is exactly what you want him to do. (And exactly why you don't want him rooming with a high school buddy.)
- Terrible roommates can make your child re-examine his own behavior. A roommate's fermenting laundry and dubious hygiene can be marvelous motivators for your child to do his own laundry and take his own daily showers.
- Ghastly roommate #1 will make roommate #2 seem all the more wonderful.
- And bad roommates make for excellent stories later on.
