Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - Original

[CPUscientist3000]

thanks for the credit, college_query

studentforever: ) the lists I think are kind of "generic" even though they are school specific. However it has check boxes on what you can and cannot bring, which probably varies by school.

What I did was find that huge A-Z What to bring to college and copy and pasted it into a word document. Tonight actually I am going through it and deleting things I know I won't need for sure.

What my mom and I are doing is printing the list out, and I cross off things we already have and cross things off as we get them.

[college_query]

Re: BB&B - I will add it's possible to select your school and just get a map of the closest store. Some schools have a school-specific info sheet, while others do not. Search for some other schools to compare results.

[student4ever:)]

Ahhh! I found it! Gee, it's only in bright blue letters with an underscore!!! No wonder I couldn't find it!!! (sarcastically)

Thanks to both college_query and CPU!

[weatherga]

Originally Posted by eyemamom

After I took a look at all the reading and work for ap english & us history next year we got her a couple books to read on the plane and annotate. Why do they make these poor boys read some of this old fashioned girlie romance books btw? Does any boy really want to read wuthering heights or pride and prejudice?

It sure must depend on the teachers, or maybe my D was just unlucky. The last two years, in AP Lang and AP Lit, it seemed like her classes read nothing but tough stuff with boy appeal. D, a sensitive flower, found a lot of this material terribly distressing. I was figuring there had been an over-reaction against literature with girl appeal. She'd have been a lot happier reading Austen or Bronte, sigh.

Re cell phones, H and I, loyal Verizon subscribers hitherto too cheap (well, too poor, really) to spring for data plans are feeling that the new Verizon shared plan brings 21st century connectivity into our zone of affordability. We plan to upgrade the whole family in August and send D to college with an iPhone. This way we'll be more likely to hear from her.

[Northernwoods]

Sounds like the weather was at least decent for most of today's events.

It was S's grad party and despite threatening weather it turned into a glorious day. Such a great day with chances to catch up with friends from all parts of S's life.

The big treat was an ice cream sundae bar with lots of toppings. Our neighbor's daughter helped keep it organized and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We do still have two gallons of ice cream left and lots of leftover toppings. I think we need another party!

Time to turn our minds to furnishing dorm rooms and other college preparations. Its nice to have all of your experiences to help us along that path!

In terms of phones S, D and I have been happy with Virgin Mobile pay as you go. They have a $35 per month fee for smart phones which is more reasonable than many contracts. You do have to buy your own phone which can add up, but you can get Androids currently and it sounds like they will be offering iPhones sometime within the year.

[woody35]

Kc1214mom -- c'mon back out.
We need to get your D added to "The Big List" if she isn't already. I can't remember now if another kid in our bunch is also going to Syracuse.

[jmnva06]

Really long but awesome day.

Spent the afternoon visiting with my wife's cousins. Lots of great stories.
DC United game in Philly-- fun time at new stadium
Car ride home-- long conversations that involved all 4 of us. It proved how cool it is to have smart, articulate kids

[glido]

Happy Father's Day to all you Wackaloon Dads!

[jmnva06]

glido-- Thanks.

Fathers Day here will be a day of watching soccer, doing laundry, taking down soccer nets and movie watching.

[dentmom4]

Cell phones: We have had the family plan from Verizon since we started using them. Made the switch to Sprint 3 weeks ago strictly based on cost. D opted out of the iPhone for a droid, I also got one with a keyboard because my transition to touch screen was a disaster. Now I have a 2 year learning curve. Added regular phone for H and D16, but found out that because I signed up for unlimited data, they also have data package (total $20/mo). Added S05 to get him out of his pricey single user ATT plan. 5 lines, unlimited text,unlimited data, 1500 shared mins, unlimited any mobile. Negative about sprint: reception near lakes (we are in MI) is slightly worse.

Even with the new verizon data offer, which I was waiting for, but did not know details, this appeared to still be cheaper and more versatile. D07 (autistic) has been moved to a trac phone since he rarely uses it.

I took D16 (who turned 18 yesterday) to the airport at 5 am to board a plane for swim camp. On the drive, she asks: how do I put together the bed again? I realized that she has never done the whole thing mattress through comforter. Bad mother moment. College mattresses are bad so good mattress pad and pillow top are essential. We got all her clothing and bedding (minus the topper) into the LLBean rolling duffle (yeah, shameless plug; I have no financial ties to the company) and reviewed the layers of a made bed. Ouch! I had her do most of her packing, but she still managed to forget headphones.

[Lakemom]

Figured I would join this group now that HS is ending in 3 days and I am already shopping for college linen. Happy Father's day all you dads of 2012 grads!

[familyof3boys]

FYI, the new Verizon plan is not as great as it may first appear. Yes, you can share data, but each smart phone will also cost $40/mo and (even worse) dumb phones will be $30/mo. There's a thread in the Cafe with more info.

Yes Happy Father's Day to all the Wackaloon Dads!

0.5 days of school left here.

[PinotNoir]

Happy Father's Day!

[woody35]

I saw a pretty good breakdown (including mini charts)about the new Verizon pricing at CNET.com in the Ask Maggie section yesterday. That was one of the top links that came up when I was looking for into about it. She also pointed out which users would not benefit from the new pricing.

Hi, Lakemom

Hope all you dads are able to enjoy a special day with your kids today!

[ReneeD7]

Happy Dad's Day to all Wackaloonian fathers!

We are just home from 4 days in NOLA for Tulane's orientation. I have a lot of scrolling back to do, but congrats to all the most recent graduates, and hope all the parties have been great.

I am so thrilled with our experience at Tulane, they did an amazing job preparing parents and students (on two separate tracks) for what's to come this fall. The dorm stay wasn't bad as those things go, but I can tell you I was very happy to get back to the Garden District hotel when it was over

They got the kids registered for classes and their Splash card student IDs made, and gave them their summer reading book. They even took them out for a night on the town at Rock and Bowl -- my girl loved the zydeco band. We had a chance to meet her roomie (who lives just blocks from campus on the Mardi Gras parade route and even her mom --who heads dining services. Nice to have an "in"! I posted a photo of the girls in our flickr account.

Taking care of laundry today. My girl heads to Costa Rica for 10 days--she leaves Monday at 6am! (Airport at 4am, wheee!) While she's gone I have my 30th high school reunion in MD--then headed to Rehobeth for a couple of days. Can't wait to tour the Dogfish Head Brewery and put my toes in the sand!