Well, it finally happened. That beautiful little boy or girl of yours grew up and went off to college. Worse yet, at least from your viewpoint, (s)he got the opportunity to study in Mexico and jumped at it. Now (s)he’s thousands of miles away from home and on his or her own for the first time.
What’s a mother to do? First off, don’t panic. You raised your child well and taught him or her all (s)he needed to know about personal safety, financial responsibility, respect for others, and all the other things necessary to successfully live in today’s modern world.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you’re not still a large part of your child’s life. (S)he may be technically an adult, but (s)he still needs your guidance, not to mention your enthusiastic interest in what (s)he does and how (s)he does it. All you need to keep in mind is the definite difference between being a parental friend and a helicopter parent, especially now that (s)he’s living in Mexico.
Preparation
Hopefully you and your child had plenty of time to prepare for his or her Mexican study adventure, including things like the following:
- Researching Mexican culture
- Researching the local laws in the city where she now lives
- Researching the local health and safety conditions
- Knowing where to find the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
- Budgeting for the length of time (s)he’ll be there
- Learning as much Spanish as possible
Contact Considerations
It goes without saying that your child should have the ability to contact you any time (s)he needs or wants to while living in Mexico, and you should have the ability to likewise contact him or her. Naturally, you both need to have each other’s cellphone number and email account.
If (s)he living with a host family, you also need to know their name, address, phone number, and email account and they need to know yours. The better you can get to know the host family, the more comfortable you will be with your child living there.
Financial Considerations
Hopefully, your son or daughter took along his or her own credit or debit card, and it’s one that contains a chip. In addition, hopefully, it’s one backed by a bank with branches in Mexico. This way, (s)he’ll be able to forego exchange fees when (s)he needs additional pesos, the national currency of Mexico.
While it might seem obvious, your son or daughter needs to make sure (s)he keeps both his or her wallet and cellphone in a safe and secure place at all times. Remind him or her occasionally not to keep them casually tucked in a pocket where a pickpocket could easily get them. Even though you’ll likely get the “Oh, Mom” response to such reminders, better to be safe than sorry.
Financial Emergencies
Even with a credit or debit card, your son or daughter should establish a local bank account, even if (s)he’ll be living in Mexico for only a few months. And (s)he needs to tell you the name of the bank and the account number. This is one of the tools you’ll need if and when you transfer money to Mexico on his or her behalf. Whether it’s a regular supplemental deposit or an emergency one, sharemoney.com lets you make it with ease, right from your home or wherever else you might be.
All you need is internet access. You accomplish the whole transfer electronically and in a matter of minutes in a safe, secure, trackable manner. Suremoney even gives you a 100% money-back guarantee should the transfer somehow fail to make it into your child’s bank account. So relax, Mom. Your foreign exchange student never needs to fear running out of the cash (s)he needs while studying in Mexico.
