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Of Course He Got Sick the Night Before University Started

What happens when university starts and your child gets sick before the first class? A funny, very real look at the little things I’m glad I packed — and the things I nearly forgot.

PARENT GUIDES

Aisha Mello

10/4/20263 min read

Zen starts university tomorrow!

And, naturally, he is sick.

Because apparently moving into student accommodation, travelling, meeting new people and being exposed to approximately 47,000 new germs is all part of the university experience.

I should have known.

Actually, I did know.

Before we left him, I went into full mother-preparation mode.

Cough medicine? Check.

Ibuprofen? Check.

Aleve? Check.

Vapour rub? Check.

First-aid supplies? Eventually, check.

Orange juice? Yes.

Anything I could think of that might help if he caught a cold, developed a headache, pulled something, coughed all night or suddenly needed the kind of thing that normally lives in Mum's medicine cupboard?

I tried to make sure he had it.

I even bought him a back brace.

Now, that might sound slightly dramatic until you remember that Zen is an animation student.

Which means a great deal of his life involves sitting in front of a computer, drawing, animating, editing and slowly folding himself into the shape of a question mark.

Every time I see him hunched over a screen, I can practically hear my own mother's voice coming out of my mouth:

"Sit up straight!"

So yes.

Back brace.

Welcome to university, son.

Here's your medicine and your spinal support.

The One Thing I Forgot

The first-aid kit.

I had bought one for Yari.

I had remembered all sorts of things for Zen.

And somehow the first-aid kit completely slipped my mind.

It was one of those moments where you look at a perfectly capable adult child and suddenly imagine every possible scenario.

What if he cuts himself?

What if he gets a blister?

What if he needs a plaster?

What if he somehow injures himself opening a tin of beans?

Motherhood does wonderful things to the imagination.

So, naturally, I went and got the first-aid kit too.

Because although our children go off to university as adults, somewhere in our minds they're still the little person who used to come running to us because they bumped their knee.

And Then the Cold Arrived

Fast-forward to the night before classes start.

He's sick.

Of course he is.

But this is where I had a little moment of relief.

Because for once, my excessive Mum preparation actually paid off.

He already had cough medicine.

He had pain relief.

He had vapour rub.

He had orange juice.

He didn't have to drag himself out feeling miserable and wander around an unfamiliar area trying to find a pharmacy.

And I didn't have to sit hundreds of miles away thinking:

Does he have anything there?

That, I think, is one of the strangest adjustments when your children leave home.

You can't make the tea.

You can't walk into their bedroom with medicine.

You can't tell them to get back under the covers.

You have to trust that you've given them enough of the little things to look after themselves.

And then you send messages.

Have you taken your medicine?

Drink water.

Did you eat?

Have some orange juice.

Go to bed.

Yes, I know you're 21.

Drink the orange juice anyway.

A Small Tip From One University Mum to Another

If you're helping your child prepare for university, make a little "sick day box."

Nothing elaborate.

Just the things you normally reach for at home when somebody wakes up feeling awful.

Depending on what is suitable for them, that might include things like:

  • basic pain relief they normally use

  • cold or cough remedies

  • vapour rub

  • tissues

  • plasters and basic first-aid supplies

  • a thermometer

  • throat sweets

  • a reusable water bottle

  • and maybe a couple of comforting drinks or cupboard foods

Obviously, they still need to read the instructions, avoid mixing medicines that shouldn't be taken together, and speak to a pharmacist or doctor when needed.

But having those familiar basics already in the room can make a miserable first-week cold much easier.

And while you're at it, show them where the nearest pharmacy, GP or walk-in service is before they actually need one.

Because finding those things while you're healthy is much easier than doing it while you're coughing, exhausted and missing home.

These Are the Things Nobody Really Tells You

We spend so much time preparing them for the big university things.

Accommodation.

Tuition.

Books.

Laptops.

Travel.

Budgets.

But university life is also:

Where do I buy medicine?

What do I do if I'm sick?

Where's the nearest pharmacy?

Do I have plasters?

Who looks after me when Mum isn't five minutes away?

And perhaps part of leaving home is learning that now, sometimes, the answer is:

You do.

But if you're lucky, your mother will have already stocked your cupboard with half a pharmacy before she leaves.

Just in case.

And apparently, in Zen's case...

it was needed before the first class even started.

Welcome back to university, Zennie!

Please sit up straight.

And drink your orange juice.

— Aisha
Before Uni