Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - Original - Page 1737

mimk6 · 06-13-2012, 12:21 AM

PN, thanks for the tip on clearing my cookies! Buying airline tickets is not for the naive.

True about any weekend being Parents Weekend -- and way cheaper as hotels know when Parents Weekend is. A lot of schools do extra things on Parents Weekend -- special speakers and concerts. I went to five minutes of one lecture at DD's Parents Weekend when she called me to tell me she was throwing up. So Parents Weekend was me getting to be a parent to a sick kid.

jaylynn · 06-13-2012, 01:04 AM

"Isn't he used to having parents who just peaked too early?"

Hahahaha. That gave me a good chuckle all night long!

woody35 · 06-13-2012, 02:15 AM

I'm kind of leaning against going to parents' weekend right now. It's in late September which is only 6 wks after I help her move in. She won't even miss me by then. If ever. Haha

It's possible I may encourage her big brother to fly in and see how things are going. Or even my BF because he's never seen the campus and he still doesn't like that she'll be so far away. He asked me a few months ago, "What if she needs us for something?" He just wants to always be her hero, plus he's seriously going to miss his little buddy. Maybe HE is the one who needs to see in person in September how well she's settled in. He'd probably just go for a Friday night to Saturday night visit. And she usually likes him better than me anyway since he's the nice "bonus parent." Haha So she'd want him to check out her new home away from home at some point and show it off to him. Or maybe I'll send her brother AND my BF together?! That would be hilarious.

It looks like her winter break starts only a couple of weeks after thanksgiving so with those being so close together, it's possible I won't fly her home for thanksgiving. She kind of wants to go spend some time with my dad's last remaining sister in Ohio who she just met on our MArch college tour to OH/IN. (well, she doesnt remember her from when she was very young anyway)

My aunt is hilarious and her husband is the most adorable, interesting guy ever. They told D in March that their welcome mat is always out for her if she ended up at one of the colleges she was looking at in their region and said they'd set a place for her at Thanksgiving. I know she's seriously thinking of taking them up on it, plus she still doesn't know all my cousins in that area.

saintfan · 06-13-2012, 02:38 AM

Not going to parents weekend or Christmas Fest the first year. I know I must go some year, but it won't be this one. My mom is the ticket buyer and seems to like to compare and figure how many miles plus how many $$ will be the optimal combo. She has booked our flights for move in plus a round trip to get 2 home and back for Christmas vacation. I'm hoping that she meets a nice friend and gets a THanksgiving invite because it doesn't seem worth it to fight the crowds and weather plus $$$$ to come home for 2-3 days. We'll see, though.

saintfan · 06-13-2012, 02:49 AM

Bad girl, MizzBee! You send our unspoiled innocents over to the mean streets and get them hooked on the hard stuff . . . UPS vs USPS or the 'is your child coddled and bratty or are you just an unmitigated failure as a parent' thread . . . then suggest the methadone to ease the shakes? You're giving St. Jimmy a run for his money

I have to say, though, I love how you are both a riotgrrl and a traditionalist.

woody35 · 06-13-2012, 02:52 AM

apparently things could've been much worse at our kids' graduation ceremonies:

Student’s sex tape plays at graduation
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...o-presentation

Wow, imagine that popping up on the giant 4-sided screen at our convention center ceremony!

mimk6 · 06-13-2012, 02:58 AM

Exciting news tonight. I told DD that her brother had a fall break and she said she was already planning to go to NYC in October. So she'll time it for his break and spend some time with him (they will be a train ride away from each other) which I think maybe means that he'll get a taste of home during fall break and I might not fly out there for Parents Weekend. Except that I might not be able to stand waiting until November to see him.

woody35 · 06-13-2012, 02:58 AM

I don't even want to look at a thread where people are turning on each other over postage.

mimk6 · 06-13-2012, 02:59 AM

At my niece's HS graduation, a student mooned the audience when getting his diploma. He was quickly escorted off.

Wait, there is really a thread where people are fighting over postage? What could there possibly be to fight about? Clearly, carrier pigeon is the way to go.

kathieh1 · 06-13-2012, 03:13 AM

*waves* I doubt I'll look at the postage thread.. maybe just a peek out of curiousity.

Thanks for the lighting ideas. I'm still a little nervous of the tiki torches, but we'll probably use a few and try to put them where they won't come in contact with people. We did put up the white Christmas lights on our arbor which is next to the patio, and that looks good. I love the suggestions for draping sheer cloth over lights.. I never think that creatively, but I'm very good at following the suggestions I hear.. and I'll try that one sometime. We also put out some of the solar lights from Costco which seem good. I'm still hopeful on the weather.

Got a $1300 car repair surprise today. I just wanted an oil change! Bad water pump and good time to replace timing belt at same time etc. etc. rear brakes need replacing too. So I have a rental for a day while it gets fixed.

Sorry for the kitty news and your D's sadness which is more than understandable. My two Havanese dogs are armrests.. I have a recliner and one naps on each arm rest..

I haven't made any reservations yet because I don't know when she'd actually be done with classes.. how do you figure that out?

woody35 · 06-13-2012, 03:14 AM

Oh, mimk6, that would be really fun for them!

rerunagain · 06-13-2012, 06:03 AM

Arguments over postage ? I seem to have missed that thread.

I can't believe we're already talking about fall breaks. So I checked the calendar--he has a week off in October and then the weekend after that is Parents/Homecoming. Plus D's circus troupe has a big performance at the beginning of October that he's said he might like to come home for ..... Good thing he can take the train.

college_query · 06-13-2012, 07:03 AM

I have noticed some threads getting very negative/argumentative. For those of you with younger children, just wanted to say you can find a safe place in more than one parent's thread. I found CC when older D was just about through the admission process and am active on another parents thread. I had the same reluctance to venture outside of it. We are still posting there; D will be a senior in college this year. There's a core group of us who post regularly, and others who pop in and out.

I know people in real life who always have to be right, and to them there is no other legitimate point of view. Have learned to try my best to avoid hot button topics, although something innocuous can be a hidden mine field.

Re: visiting, traveling - older D has never come home for Thanksgiving. It's just too expensive. She's usually up to her eyeballs in school work, and if she did come home would need to study. I can't justify a turkey dinner being worth $700-$800.

We have never made it to parent's weekend, either. My in-laws went D's sophomore year.

We feel fortunate both our children are attending selective LACs which meet full financial need. Being away/not coming home frequently is a sacrifice we and they are willing to make to have that experience.

S and D are already making plans for Thanksgiving together, along with a friend of S's who will be in school out east.

rerunagain · 06-13-2012, 07:45 AM

Some of my best memories from college were the breaks when I did not go home. I was at S'more and my sophomore year my sister started at Dickinson. Our parents were in Oregon, so we only got plane tickets for winter break and summers (though both of us spent at least one summer on the east coast). We went to visit each other during some of our spring breaks (fell on different weeks). We also had some family friends in the town where she was and so we'd do Thanksgiving with them. I went to visit the town in upstate NY where I lived for awhile during one break (a very long bus ride!) and at least one of them I just stayed on campus and got some dinner invitations from people I knew from the Episcopal church in town (I had joined their choir early on to have an off campus activity--great to be somewhere without as many students for once!). My father never set foot on the campus until graduation (well he'd been before I applied--he was a professor at another college in Pennsylvania when I was little and served on an accreditation team that went there). My mother came once with my grandparents (they lived in Texas). My grandmother had a thing about seeing where her children/grandchildren lived and so visited both me and my cousins near my age. I don't think there even WAS a "Parents Weekend" back then.

saintfan · 06-13-2012, 07:55 AM

katheih1 - check the school calendar which should be in the registrar's section of the website. StO has the finals schedules posted by class slot so one can know for sure when kid will be done. In our case the last possible finals are on the 18th so D is coming home the 19th early afternoon to leave time to get shuttles to the airport. Interim starts the 3rd so she will go back the 2nd of January. My mom who was booking said prices are higher than regular due to holidays, but lower than they will be later. So Cal will be an easier flight, though, and likely plenty of options so less important to nail down early.