After the launch

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1961

<p>Hi Switters, I hope your son is OK! The center location of the rash is a good sign, as the others said shingles follows the nerves so it’s usually on one side or the other. I had shingles while in my 20s and it was itchy but not that bad. Maybe it is worse the older one gets. There are anti-virals to treat it, but hopefully it won’t come to that!</p>

<p>Fammom: I was wondering the same thing, and think that b/c the chicken pox vaccine is a live one, that shingles could probably occur later in life (but I don’t know for sure). My kids got the vaccine and within 2 weeks got the chicken pox! They’ve been tested since then and the blood titers show no immunity to chicken pox, so I hope they’re not in danger of getting it again.</p>

1962

<p>So I did some reading about the shingles vaccine. It is quite expensive if your insurance doesn’t cover it and generally it is only covered once you turn 60. It is clearly more severe and more likely in older persons. But why? Well, it seems t hat it is probably due to the weakening immune system but ALSO because younger people are more exposed to children with chickenpox. While you are exposed to chickenpox your immune system keeps fighting it which keeps the shingles at bay. Since our generations are pretty seperated from one another and our young people don’t hang out with little kids or only with other young people who have been vaccinated for chickenpox they are not getting the immune stimulus that they used to get so they expect shingles to show up more in younger people. Lesson…make sure you, your teens and young adults continue to be exposed to those “vectors” known as toddlers and elementary school children so that your immune system has to keep working hard to ward off all the disgusting viruses they carry, including chickenpox. It is a little like the news that for kids to avoid allergies they should be brought up in dirty, dusty, animal filled homes so that they don’t get the hyper-reaction of allergies when they encounter dirt after being kept in a sterile, clean environment when young.</p>

1963

<p>It was rumored that my kid’s local T.day host is British.
From the trusty source (guess who?) I found out that I should find “Jaffa Cakes” for hostess gift.
<a href=“http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/9/27/1285611267663/Jaffa-Cakes-006.jpg[/url]”>http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/9/27/1285611267663/Jaffa-Cakes-006.jpg&lt;/a&gt;
I went to Union sq. area fancy food places, find what seems like what it is supposed to be, bought a pack already.
Heck, I have eaten some of (knockoff) these in my rural coastal town in Japan. We do all sort of (fake) cookies. My fav. was Morinaga brand “Harvard” cream sandwiches.
[??? - Simple Biscuit Life | ???](<a href=“http://www.morinaga.co.jp/biscuit/biscuit/detail/harvard.php”>http://www.morinaga.co.jp/biscuit/biscuit/detail/harvard.php&lt;/a&gt;)
Why named Harvard? we never figured out. I am sure there got to be a good reason… let’s see…the wave on the surface reminded some cookie executive of his H study abroad rowing Charles River days? I like drama! romanticized drama!!
Or
no drama, some cookie marketing guy thought it just sounded classy without knowing whatever that word stands for when it was first introduced in 50s after the war when whole country did turn around?</p>

<p>Back to Jaffa Cakes
It was wrong.
I googled for real, because I had this nagging feeling, for my Jaffa cakes are made in France, not in UK.
I found out that here is this hardcore UK store and cafe restaurant in Greenwich Village.
[Store[/url</a>]
So I go there, it is all holiday spirit-ing. Christmas Crackers and orange shaped chocolate and there there
The original McVite’s Jaffa Cakes holiday special pack, which is 37 inches long log of a cardboard box, which contain five separate packages of 12 cakes each.
The length of the each four sides of box is decorated with McVite’s trademarked orange peel-y font singing loud
“Christmas stocking over-stuffer” “Taller than your average elf” “Last longer than turkey leftovers” “Longer than your wish list”
It is all fun, but I can not possibly send this to my kid at school so he can take it to the host family???
The shop is manned by, I don’t know where they find these boys, but kids all speak and looking like belong to Hogwarts 7th year-sh. Boys say, no they are out of stock for regular sized Jaffa Cakes packs, shipping is on its way, cahn’t tell when. why don’t you drop line? here is our card.
Well
I have to do this soon via UPS or T.day is coming, no more priority mail$ no no.
No they cahn’t break the log to make individual packages to sell. I must take it as is, five boxes in one giant rod.
I did.
I am going to send three of them hoping there are enuff country folks around. Sampled one at my job. quite nice. very casually wrapped in orange cellophane and dainty small, 2 inch diameter.
Saving the last one for emergency. (you never know)
Here is wikipedia. The original manufacture McVite’s means business.
There was a tribunal! about either Jaffa Cake is a cake or biscuit.
[url=&lt;a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffa_Cakes]Jaffa”&gt;Jaffa Cakes - Wikipedia]Jaffa</a> Cakes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.teaandsympathynewyork.com/store.php]Store[/url”>http://www.teaandsympathynewyork.com/store.php)
McVities argued that a distinction between cakes and biscuits is, among other things, that biscuits would normally be expected to go soft when stale, whereas cakes would normally be expected to go hard. It was demonstrated to the Tribunal that Jaffa Cakes become hard when stale. </p>

<p>The one we sampled are nice and soft, means they are fresh.
UPS guy just picked up my box of goodies (also contain usual forgotten stuff, band-aids, plastic forks, blank CDs)
I returned French Jaffa Cake back to the store, fight off the temptation of sampling these as well. hemhemhem.
Now I sit on my paws and wait. wagwagwag</p>

1964

<p>No bears, have not been naughty in Parents Forum, altho I did get snarky there once and thought I might be muzzled. H threw me a surprise birthday party (one of those birthdays ending in 0 ) on Saturday night and I’ve been busy finishing up D’s scarf (finally done) and started a matching hat. </p>

<p>D had her first professionally printed books done on CreateSpace, a wordless book about a corgi who finds the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence!! It was nice to not have to buy printer cartridges incessantly, but now I have to buy my own copy! </p>

<p>Anyone see the Worst Schools for students in debt post on the front page of Forums? Interesting comments. 4 out of the 21 were art schools (MCAD one of them!). Plus Florida Tech, my grad school alma mater was in there too.</p>

1965

<p>that is skewed and weird list, and sure enuff, OCELITE (=certified weird lists lover) already linked it in some other art thread.
I think those people had to prove that midwest schools are suffering financially, and had to put MCAD in it to prove that, and CCS in Detroit. Calarts is in its own league, so is NYU et al but what is the point of listing schools most (none art) parents are un-familiar with? </p>

<p>In the original thread, our brave annay kid gave nice jab to snarky comment made about the school building.
Actually, I do that all the time, judge schools’ worth by its appearances or admission’s coffee.
I’d better be careful and nice.</p>

1966

<p>Ok not shingles on baby Switters. He went to the doctor, of course felt better while he was there. She suggested physical therapy. He told her no time! No time! She said ok stretch and if it doesn’t get better than come back. He called me upset from outside the doctor. Felt misunderstood and said he didn’t feel like he had advocated for himself sufficiently. I told him to march back in there and do it again. He went in and explained level of pain, inability to draw a deep breath when it spasms, can’t carry anything, sometimes can’t sleep. She then prescribed a very limited dose of muscle relaxers that he will take at night. He is certain this will help. It’s my route when this happens to me. He was grateful for the advice. We had a really good conversation about his work. He sounds on top of things. He was saying things like " as long as I am in manhattan I will go to my studio and get going on graphic design, we have this daunting thing due next Tuesday" when I suggested he go home and rest he said, yeah I’ll be able to go to sleep early because I’m already done w film homework." I asked him about his lifestyle, is he partying a lot and wearing himself out? He says he mostly hangs w his roommates and girlfriend. So it turned out roommate arrangement was great, because he gets to have social time on the cheap w people he likes, making meals, conversation, etc. I feel like things might be kind of stable and ok.</p>

1967

<p>that is a good thing he called while he was there, he must have remembered how you taught him to talk to those cogs of bank people.
he must be liking daunting graphic design (=somewhat employable thing). Why is that everything works out the way you wanted for him?
Or it is you who is wanting what he is eventually going to wants?
Is it egg or chicken?</p>

<p>It is creepy sometimes, my kid would make small ref. to art or book characters out of context and I can totally see how all that connected, so we can go on writing or talking but no one in the world would know what we are talking about.
He sent me an essay he did for the class and I doubt the prof. could follow what is happening (it is supposedly on “stream of consciousness” whatever that is) means won’t do him any good, does it?</p>

<p>I have a question, have you or any of grownups co-signed for his apartment lease or how that happened?
Of course for the next year, he wants to live off-campus with bunch of friends (=big yard for all-the-noise-you-can-make shows and maybe growing vegetables or some sort of animals etc etc) how that can be done for 18-19 year old males from hodge podge US of A?
I have to look up USA map every time I hear about new names and where they are from.
I gotten to talk to some of them, heheh
the Halloween costume made me somewhat “valued”
OK OK I am bragging.
G, redbugD, and baby blue, lil’ swits, how and when did it happen, what are the possible horror stories- I know about break-in during summer, anything new?- out of NYC things must be different, renting rules could be lax, like cash and handshake?</p>

1968

<p>apparently it is UK holiday classic item, that they’d change design of the box every year, called jaffa cake yard (but actually 36 and half inches long)</p>

<p>[McVitie’s</a> Jaffa Cake Yard | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“McVitie's Jaffa Cake Yard | FoodBev Media | Flickr”>McVitie's Jaffa Cake Yard | FoodBev Media | Flickr)</p>

1969

<p>ohhh I think I got it, proud empire Imperial Standard Yard is different form newworld yard?</p>

<p>-Since 1959, the US and the British yard have been defined identically to be 0.9144 metres, to match the international yard. Metric equivalents in this article usually assume this latest official definition. Before this date, the most precise measurement of the Imperial Standard Yard was 0.914398416 metres.</p>

<p>----Nooooo I was wrong, the box is 93 centimeter, means 0.93 meter, does not match either UK nor US numbers…
maybe just that five regular box put together happened to be yard-sh, (one regular box is 0.183 meter or 7.25 inches long) thus it became “Jaffa Cake Yard”, after all we are talking about 10.5/16 inches or 0.015601584 or 0.0156 meter, or 1.5601584 or 1.56 centimeter difefrences (but that would be kind of big in Japan. we do things by milimeters, which here means 15.6 millimeter cheats) </p>

<p>…where is fammom?</p>

1970

<p>I’m baaa-aack. Jaffa cakes are year round but apparently they have been turned onto the USA extremism with food a la costco with the yard long jaffa box. I think this is since my time. The Brits are getting as hefty as the Yanks and the imperial yard or whatever jaffa box is obviously part of the problem. </p>

<p>I moved off campus into an apartment after my sophomore year to save money. I lived with a really ultra conservative christian girl from thailand who was also dirt poor. She used to save the chicken necks and gizzards and innards that I was trying to discard from the cheap industrial bags of chicken parts I would buy. She taught me to love chicken livers and I taught her bar-b-que. I never learned to eat chicken feet but it was fun to have them on the grill with the wings. She learned to live with beer in the fridge and I learned to live with a bible in the living room. I think living off campus is one of the great things of college life. I lived in group houses that partied all weekend and the calm quite apartment with one other girl. All is fine but it is all part of learning to live with really different people, deal with very different landlorts and work things out. My s avoided living in an art group house this year…smart choice. Supposedly the group house is the scene of much drama, much noise, …he just visits on the weekend. Your S should go slowly in terms of living with groups of people and I would recommend not living with more than 3 people just so the chances of living with a real nut are kept low. Still, it can save a lot of money and be a great experience. </p>

<p>OK got to get cooking for the agency chili cookoff that looms next week. It is the highlight of our year…given the absolute disaster with our supervised institutions we can at least seek success in the culinary field. I am submitting a mushroom/veggi chili and, in the running for the “best non-chili use of the chili pepper” I am making chocolate-chili sandwhich cookies with dulce de leche filling. Sort of like alfajores but with chocolate-chili cookie dough. Hmmm…I want to try today so as not to embarrass myself next week.</p>

1971

<p>Bears- </p>

<p>It’s not chicken or egg. </p>

<p>It’s not that everything works the way I want for him. I think it’s more that I am happy for his successes and blessings, worry about his struggles. But I am feeling lucky right now that he got to go to his dream school. But believe you me his teenage years were plenty challenging. </p>

<p>I thought he would write, or do science. </p>

<p>Funny story. My best friend has a son (actually several children) and a step son. The first son and step are much older than our kids(teenage pregnancy) first son math genius, good kid, has yet to finish college, at 26. Never calls his mother, even though her husband has pancreatic cancer. Step son was so much trouble as a teenager. Didn’t go to college. Always a worry. He is such a fine man! Very successful in his business. Calls and visits his dad regularly and is constantly thanking his stepmother ( my bf) for being such a great mom.</p>

1972

<p>Ok switters meanies prevails…
I started writing “morning pages” which here means when you get up, you just scribble what’s in your mind longhand (I never heard of this word, now I now!!) but have to do it every day, the first thing in the morning, three pages full.
It is one of the methods recommended by an artist I know so I can get out of empty nest-ey bluueeerrr.</p>

<p>Today I don’t know why but I thought about three step siblings of a kid I used to take full time care of.
They’d come every holiday or summer by piece or in entire unit and I have to basically mother them because their dad and step mom were always (really) working and the youngest one (the TROUBLE!!) of three was only four when I first met them.
long story short, the TROUBLE became the most warm, pleasant, friendly but how do I put it, knowing where he stand-kind of young adult.
He would wait til make plate of food until everyone is done, offer to clean up, hold the door for you.
I know how much of TROUBLE he’d been four to ten-sh (that’s when I stopped working for the family, and kids lived across the country with their biological mom, so I did not see them much after that)
He (they) had their share of struggles and it affected three kids in all different way.
Since he was a youngest and TROUBLE-est, it beaten him up, is my guess.
He had to learn how to be nice, to please adults who would feed him and dress him, house him. I saw them after long interval and It was astonishing change, then sadness.
I am not saying your bf or anyone did anything differently to biological kids and step kid.
What I felt is that, kids do see thru everything however young.
During my nanny stints, I learned that never to underestimate or mistreat any kids.
Adore them for who they are so I will never have negative feeling to any of them that I have to hide it that they would ultimately sense.
As an inside-outsider, I saw and heard awful things parents say and do to their kids.
I must have felt that I have to be the force field, shining bacon of hope hahaha plus be super nice so they’d love me back, maybe to get back at those cheap-o parents who pretty much enslaved me?</p>

<p>It did not go so well with my own kid. Oh well.</p>

1973

<p>bears:
you did need to co-signed for his apartment lease.
I worried so much about safety, it seems fine but I still pray for that.</p>

<p>Glad to know little switters is fine.</p>

1974

<p>Well that was great that baby Swits learned a bit more about self-advocacy and walked right back into that doctor’s office on Swits advice. That kid’s got a good head on his shoulders. I’m glad it wasn’t shingles.</p>

<p>I can’t relate to the Jaffa cakes at all. I have no idea what they could be or taste like. When I’ve been to the UK we have brought back shortbread cookies – but that was in the pre-celiac days. My Mom was German and the tradition in our family during the holidays was to have Nuremburger Lebkuchen. They were a kind of soft spice cookie coated with chocolate or white icing with a piece of unleavened bread on the bottom – actually the same kind of wafer that is used for Communion, but large-sized, like the priest has. I never have them at home, but when I would go back to California that was always one of the highlights of staying with my Mom – we would sit together early in the morning with coffee and lebkuchen. Listen to my husband snoring in the loft.</p>

<p>As for how kids will turn out… who can say. It is a mystery. Some kids are just more resilient than others and some kids are just more of a pain in the A$$ than others… but why do the pain in the rear ones end up still turning out ok??? People keep telling me not to worry, that D1 will turn out fine. I have to wonder. She has had issues since she was 8 years old and started acting like she was sixteen then. I had hoped that if she started acting like a teenager earlier that at least she would be ‘done’ with that stage sooner… no such luck. Oh well, she is who she is and I try my best to accept that and go with it. She is so private though that its hard to have a close relationship with her. Ultimately I don’t understand her nearly as well as I understand my other two.</p>

<p>Aspie girl will give her a run for the money though. She lost my keys to the car I usually drive last Saturday. This was on top of a whole string of lost and misplaced items ranging from her glasses to her stock tie (part of her required attire for foxhunting) to her cell phone to her ipod. Every day it was something else. By the time the incident with my keys came around I was fed up with it and, I admit, with her. It is hard to not have negative feelings about Aspie girl when her thinking is so darn rigid and she will not even try to do things that you know will help her. Yesterday when she needed to get her riding helmet out of the locked car, she asked me for my keys… I told her “You were the last one with my keys, so I can’t give them to you”. “So what am I supposed to do?” she asks…big big big sigh. I reply that this is her problem and she needs to figure out a solution. I ask her to tell me one solution. She comes up with borrowing a helmet at the barn. I agree that that’s a possible solution. Can she think of anymore? No, she says. This is exactly like D1. Expecting me or somebody else to figure out how to solve their problem. I tell her I can think of at least three other solutions to your problem. Still get a blank stare. Sigh. I ask her “Who else in the family has keys to the car?” “Dad” she says. Ok, (nevermind that Dad is at work and her ride to the barn is coming in ten minutes), “so, what solution can you come up with knowing that Dad is somebody else that has keys to the car”…I wait. Finally she ventures “I could call him up and he could come home with the keys”. Yes, I agree that would be a possible solution. “How would that compare to borrowing a helmet at the barn?” Silence. My patience is beyond worn thin now. I say to her “Who ELSE has keys to the car?”… she replies “D1”. Then I point out that perhaps she needs to think up a way to get D1 to go with her to the car to unlock it because she has already lost one set of keys and we don’t need another set misplaced. So, given the dynamics between Aspie girl and D1 this wasn’t going to go over too well, so Aspie girl hit upon the idea of having Manga girl ask D1 for the keys and then go out to the car to unlock it and give keys back to D1. Are you all exhausted now??? I am.</p>

<p>Manga went out to the car and unlocked it for Aspie girl. While she was out at the car she found my set of keys. Yay Manga girl!! Nevermind that Aspie girl and dear hubby had both ‘searched’ the car for my keys. I myself had undertaken the daunting task of searching Aspie girl’s room…and hadn’t found the keys. I did find all sorts of weird things… missing travel mugs in the sock drawer (why???), missing stock pin in a ziplock bag with hair pins/barettes, a huge assortment of single socks that probably have matches in my basket of single socks in my room…</p>

<p>Anyway, I do feel sorry for Aspie girl. She looks so forlorn when I am out of sorts with her. Are any of you familiar with the Sims game? We used to play this a lot around here and the Sim people would interact with each other and sometimes they would have negative interactions and their ‘like’ meters would go down… sometimes I feel like that. For the whole week I’ve been out of sorts with Aspie girl because I didn’t have my keys and I didn’t think she was putting enough (well, ANY) effort into actually finding them for me. I feel negatively towards D1 too, even though I KNOW she has issues (just like Aspie girl has issues with keeping track of things)… but when I’m working my you-know-what off and she is lying on the couch doing nothing… it just makes me a bit crazy. </p>

<p>I had a close relationship with my Mom. But looking back I know that I wasn’t always happy with her and she was certainly not always happy with me. Love is a strong thing, even when you’re aggravated with the other person or they’re aggravated with you. DH is putting up with a lot of crap from the women in his family these days, poor guy. He has much more patience than I do and should probably be nominated to sainthood…</p>

<p>Manga girl has a birthday party today – she turned sweet sixteen on Wednesday. I will spend the rest of the day cooking and baking for her party. Gratefully. She is a terrific kid. I worry, though, that she is really really looking forward to getting OUT when she goes to college and I think she will never be back…who could blame her?</p>

1975

<p>Have not gone the apartment route yet, but will this May. D is planning on living with her friend she met at MCAD and is currently rooming with, and her BF. I assume I will have to sign the lease because none of them have jobs. My friend had 2 boys in apts during colelge and she had to sign for both of them.</p>

1976

<p>Hi all, I have to say I really enjoy this board. Reading it just makes me happy; such a melting pot of experiences and stories, funny and wise. </p>

<p>Bears, I’m sure those kids realize what a beacon of hope you were to them when they were little. Thank God that children have people like you when others fail them. Also enjoyed learning about the cakes, which are new to me, too!</p>

<p>Switters, glad your son does not have shingles. Are the back problems another issue? Hope the meds helped! I enjoyed reading Fammom’s investigation about the immunity issue/shingles and have seen that play out in real life. Years ago my toddler brother broke out in chicken pox while we were all out of town for my great-aunt’s funeral. Soon after my great-uncle (not her spouse) came down with shingles and became deathly ill. When I got them at a young age I was really run down; lost my Dad to cancer when I was 7 mos. pregnant with my oldest and then buried my grief under the happiness of having my newborn baby. The stress came out in shingles! Anyway, glad little switters is OK.</p>

<p>Fammom, hope the chili cook-off experiment was a success! If you care to share your recipes I’m all ears, errrr, eyes! Good luck next week!</p>

<p>Bears, yes, my limited experience with apartments (niece in NYC and older D in FL) tells me you will have to co-sign and/or guarantee the lease. Depends on how the landlord handles student rentals (whether each kid gets his own lease or if they’re all on one lease with one guarantor). They will probably do a credit check and might want wage statements (NYC niece had to get a ton of paperwork from her parents). Individual leases are much easier and less worrisome! I also advise insurance for kids whether they’re on or off campus. For the last 2 years I’ve gone through [Affordable</a> Laptop Insurance, College Student Insurance, Personal Property, & Laptop Theft | National Student Sevices](<a href=“http://www.nssi.com%5DAffordable”>http://www.nssi.com) for my kids after much research and talking with my brother who is also my insurance agent! In this technology age I’m also recommending it to my brothers and sisters for their younger children. </p>

<p>Gmom, Happy, happy birthday to Manga Girl! I hope she had a lovely day. Did you ever consider writing a book or a blog? You have such a way with words and I know many people share your highs and lows. I think everyone here does follow Bear’s advice to adore our children for who they are!</p>

<p>Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!</p>

1977

<p>Apartments can be quite variable. D2 in Baltimore found a lovely, lovely landlord, nicer than any I ever had, and has had generally less drama. Their water is paid for, cable/internet was easy to get, and electricity for heat and cooling is expensive, but still keeps everything cheaper than the dorms (and for 12 months too). An old, drafty building but no little varmints so that’s OK.</p>

<p>Country living has been harder for D1. Much less to choose from and a meaner landlady (insisting on only one check per month so the roomie sends her check to us - and we have to send the one check to the landlady since H’s name is the cosigner, you get the picture). Water is shockingly expensive, the electric meter is broken and reads 0 each month, and their apartment is blacklisted for cable/internet since the previous tenants ran out without paying their last bill. They finally got internet, after 2 months of persistence and D1 was convinced that students are just being taken advantage of. Mail service ALL goes through a post office box, even UPS and FedEx. Weird, but it works unless you’re doing online ordering that won’t deliver to a PO box. Amazon will deliver, most of the time. </p>

<p>All in all, they’re happier this way, especially with cooking although they both have moderate meal plans. D1’s roommate will microwave veggies which D1 finds shocking, so she ends up doing most of the cooking. The roomie is quite grateful. How many people survive on microwave food on a regular basis? shudder…</p>

1978

<p>fammom - you’re cookie recipe sounds wonderful, please share! I love the chipotle hot chocolate named after Lucille Ball that they have at ACKC. Have you been there?</p>

<p>[Welcome</a> to Artfully Chocolate!](<a href=“http://www.ackccocoabar.com/menu_cafe.htm]Welcome”>http://www.ackccocoabar.com/menu_cafe.htm)</p>

1979

<p>Welcome to Artfully Chocolate! <<Greenwitch, Thanks for posting that link! I want one of everything, LOL!</p>

1980

<p>Happy B-day to Manga girl! My husband would have been diagnosed ADD so the losing things is part of my life. He is an adult so has some coping mechanisms but he can’t remember his systems all the time. Today I was up and downstairs while he asked for things that he put away over a year ago but can’t remember where etc. They are not lost and often their location is quite logical (to me) but not to him. I just finished talking t son and venting a little about being the only organized person in the house. He was in the woodshop working on some project and sounded OK but no time for food or fun. </p>

<p>So like Bears it is good to sit back and reflect on how people/kids change. We had the girlscout meeting–down to just 4 souls after 9 years from a large brownie troop of 25–the moms dominated too much but we hadn’t seen each other in so long it was nice to just catch up. Girls tried the cookies…thumbs up…got a winner they say. I will send links to recipe–the veggie chili was also a surprising success…no gluten!!! even with D who is not keen on cooked mixed veggies. </p>

<p>OK so looking at the girls I saw every last one of them show with body language, actual language and hefty sighs at least one moment of irritation with their mother. YET, each one is just lovely to me and the other moms that aren’t their moms. They compliment the food, they pick up the dishes, they ask how we are doing (other kids, jobs) etc. One mom suggested that when they finally come up with an idea for the gold award…send it to “another mother” because each girl seems unable to accept suggestions/ideas from their own mother (she put it more diplomatically–girls should get an independent input from another mom or girl). I have know the girls since they were all 7 and truly the really difficult ones have become some of the nicest girls. On another forum, someone pointed out that girls who have princess-complex (a bit spoilt and self centered) in early teens somehow become transformed into assertive but caring women. All four of the girls had this in spades (still do a little) but they all are really interested in having meaningful projects, particularly projects that help women/girls in the community. There was an interesting exercise we did on leadership–“who do you most admire and why?” All our daughters named women (coaches, teachers, Hilary Clinton, Sandra Day Oconnor, Lady gaga, etc). Who would you have named? My son would have named at least one woman artist. Do you know who your kids admire and why? Do the boys only name men and do the girls focus on women? Can you remember who you admired at 16/17 and why? I admired Anwar Sadat for his negotiations with Begin and Carter and had nightmares for years after his assassination. Yep…not many girls would say that they really liked the Bay City Rollers and an egyptian politician but I was a little odd.</p>