Write a Pretty Email!

That's what I told him to do~!  Yup!  I said, "Boy, you need to write a pretty email!"  So he did!  He saved me mucho mullah, and I'm proud of him.

When your kids go to college they learn way more than you ever bargain.  For instance, my son knows how to put on the charm, smile, lean over to kiss my cheek, and say, "I love you, mom" in a very special way that gets me to grinning, then I kiss him back and say, "How much is it going to cost me now?"

Sound pretty mushy for a 20 year old, but it certainly catches at my heart strings when he does it, even if I know it means I'll most likely be cracking my wallet open!

My son has also learned how to scream at the top of his lungs, "You IDIOT!  Don't do that!"  Okay, he doesn't scream at me like that, but he's told me that he's had to use this particular tactic on his roommates this semester in the wonderful realm of dorm life!  All the while, he's puffing out his chest like a proud rooster, of course, and trying to make his not quite 5 foot 9 inch frame look more like 6' 10".

But one thing that I'm especially proud of him for is his way of writing what I call a "pretty email."  While fighting off drunken roommates, while knocking out computer hackers, while taking College Biology (with lab class) and College Chemistry (with lab class) all in one semester, while being obnoxious (to I don't know who) while I'm talking to him on the phone this semester - he learned to write a "pretty email."

During the semester he had voiced to me his displeasure at the uncleanliness of his roommates.  This is coming from a boy who showers 2 - 3 times per day at least.  Although he's kind of messy when it comes to clothes, meaning he can be standing 6 inches from the clothes hamper, but somehow his most recent outfit ends up on the floor.  He also spills coffee everywhere he goes.  When I want to know where the boy is, I just follow the spilled coffee trail.

The other day he received a letter from the college that stated he and his roommates were responsible for the damage left in their dorm room.  It didn't sound too good - one stained couch, two torn couches, and a dirty sink.  Sigh!  I figured this was going to cost me a pretty penny, and I wasn't pleased.  He told me that he certainly wasn't responsible for all those damages.

In very tiny writing at the bottom of the letter, it stated if you wanted to dispute the charges that were most likely to be charged, you needed to write an email to a certain lady in residential housing.  After the boy explained how he wasn't responsible for all those damages, I told him to write a pretty email.  So he did!

I'm sure the head of residential housing has heard every excuse in the book through the years, but I told the boy to use his charm!

He received an email about 30 minutes later from the residential housing lady stating that she typically didn't waive housing damages upon the statements made by one single student.  She usually liked to have others in the room back up their statements.  But she said that she was so pleased with his response to her letter that she waived his fees for damages.  She told him to have a great summer too!

How in the world did I know he could write a "pretty email" like that?  Well, truth be told, when I was upset with him this year, I'd email him, and I always received a "pretty email" in reply:)

That education that is putting a hole in my pocket is sure paying off!