As college students pack up for the campus return, parents are advised to keep a watchful eye on what’s being tossed into the duffle bag. That’s right, you might think your biggest parenting hurdle is convincing the college-bound teen to leave the Xbox at home, but that’s just a blip on the screen. Candles are forbidden and hot plates are a thing of the past, but some university policies have made dorms pet-friendly.
If my son picks the right pet-friendly college, he’ll have the opportunity to be distracted by co-eds and canines. And I’ll have the opportunity to worry about whether he’s eating well AND feeding the Jack Russell. While this could give him the opportunity to use “The Dog Ate My Homework” excuse for a few more years, I doubt the pet benefits outweigh the inconvenience and potential hazards.
Then there are the schools that introduce pet options you’ve never considered. One accepts rodents and sugar gliders. Sugar gliders? I know what rodents are (I used them to threaten my kids when they left food in the basement “Clean this mess up or we’ll have mice.”). Thanks to Google, I now know what sugar gliders are and I’m pretty sure these small gliding possums would like stray french fries too. Maybe a liberal pet policy is a cleaning option for the very messy. All I know is that the Xbox isn’t looking so bad right now.
© 2011 Nancy Berk
Never, ever would I have allowed a dog to go to a dorm. An apartment, maybe – but not a dorm. What does the poor animal do while the kid is in class? But I do remember the Legally Blonde movies where the chihuahua was happy in the dorm so who am I to judge?
We had a cat that hung out in our dormitory. We named him Socrates (“Soc” for short), thinking that we were oh so clever for choosing such a name. He didn’t go home with anyone, though. He stuck around the dorm, and probably a few other places on campus while he was at it. He was pretty well pampered by us.