<p>I’m feeling very sad. After initially promising to attend my son’s high school graduation both of my sisters have now reneged. The ceremony will be at 6 pm on a week night, and they can’t figure out the “logistics” of traveling (1 hour for one, and 3 hours for another). This means my mother also will not be able to attend, as she relies on sister #2 for long distance travel. Sister #2 is retired, so work schedule has nothing to do with it. Their attitude seems to be that high school graduation isn’t as meaningful as it once was and they will plan to attend the college graduation. Part of it is my fault, after they received the announcements they called and asked, “Does DS want us to come?” I guess I should have said, “yes”, but left it sort of vague and said I didn’t think he was concerned about it. I don’t think he really cares with everything else going on, but considering he is an only child with few relatives I had assumed they would make the effort. No use feeling sorry for myself, but wondered if anyone else had this type of experience.</p>
<p>No. Even the family that I have that lives close (one aunt and uncle live within 20 minutes from me and another lives a block over) never came to any of my stuff. Even when they had the time. </p>
<p>Truly, I never cared. High school graduation wasn’t a big deal IMO. My parents were there and that was plenty. Families differ.</p>
<p>Husband’s parents have attended EVERYTHING -every ballet recital ,school musical ,etc .</p>
<p>Sorry, but I agree graduations are actually kind of painful. (Well–maybe boring is a better word.) Hours and hours of time for a few seconds of recognition of the graduating kid. I never expected any extended family to attend my kids’ hs or college graduations. I think it’s a much better idea to host a party on another date, and possibly closer to the relatives, than dragging them out to a graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>It sounds like your son really does not care. Try not to take it personally and ask him if he’d like a party on down the line.</p>
<p>Grandparents yes - no one else. I would not encourage aunts/uncles since I would have to reciprocate. It is just high school. Not a huge thing.</p>
<p>The kids just care about the grad parties and their friends attending.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just go pick up your mom yourself?</p>
<p>Yes… graduation parties are what family/friends should be attending if at all possible. I’d be a little upset if they didn’t make the effort to come to those, but graduation isn’t something I’d make extended family sit through. It was SO BORING, even for us graduates.</p>
<p>Grandparents only for graduations in our family, both high school and college. They always come, and are probably always bored silly, but are happy to be there regardless.</p>
<p>Everbody always comes to the party though, which is usually a week or two later and on a weekend.</p>
<p>Ema, I had friends in high school that were twins… one in P and one in S. Their graduations were 1st and last on graduation day. I felt SO bad for her family. Could you imagine sitting through TWO of those graduations?</p>
<p>Oh god NO!!! I didn’t mind mine so much, though it was not thrilling it was fun to see my teachers and I knew the girl who gave our speech. But I went to my sister’s last spring and thought my tailbone would split in half from sitting in those seats for so long!!</p>
<p>I’m surprised they put them in different schools! Since they generally try to put siblings in the same school even when they’re not the same grade. Yikes, what a nightmare. At least graduation is indoors.</p>
<p>Families live 4-6 hours away. I would not expect them to attend the HS graduation ceremony, which was on a Saturday evening. I had the party for D1 on the weekend following graduation- at 2PM on a Saturday. We invited both sets of families. Everyone (even my married nieces and nephews) from my side of the family came. Most drove the 4 hours for the party, and went back the same day. My Mom and 2 of my sisters did stay in a hotel. </p>
<p>My husband’s family was ‘too busy’ to attend. His bother is the godfather of D1 and made no attempt to come. His parents rely on his brother to drive them, so they did not make the trip either.</p>
<p>They chose to be placed separately. Didn’t want to use the sibling rule.</p>
<p>My older brother did not attend my high school graduation–I didn’t mind much at the time, but now I kind of wish he would’ve been there. (Probably because we weren’t close when I was in high school, but are much closer now.)</p>
<p>My ENTIRE family was there for my recent college graduation…brother, sister-in-law, young nephew, sister, sister’s boyfriend, and my parents all drove 7+ hours from SoCal to my school in Sonoma County. I also had a grandmother, aunt and uncle come in from Modesto (2.5ish hour drive)…aunt and uncle’s car broke down and they STILL managed to get there! It was nice to be with family…we’re all so busy and with me being that far away at school it is rare that we’re all together. Seemed like everyone had a great time, and my brother and sister-in-law managed to take some extra time off and take my nephew on a mini-vacation on the way home.</p>
<p>My mom is flying in from Florida (to NJ), but my sister’s son is graduating 3 weeks before my son. Since we live 7 hours away from each other we made a pact that neither of our families need to schlep to the graduations. My mother-in-law will be coming from 20 minutes away. We didn’t ask my husband’s siblings.</p>
<p>Confession: I was secretly SO HAPPY that no relatives wanted to attend D’s HS graduation. I hate to have overnight company and company + graduation events would have given me a migraine.</p>
<p>We realized that we will be in the area on the day before my nephew’s graduation. I just made hotel reservations and unless we are asked to something else, we are attending the ceremony and that’s it. I don’t what our presence to add to anyone else’s stress.</p>
<p>My husband’s sister came for D’s graduation. I didn’t even invite anyone on my side of the family – they’re too scattered (geographically, not intellectually).</p>
<p>I wonder if sometimes people don’t go because they think they’ll have to bring a graduation gift…so maybe they say they don’t have the time when they mean they don’t have the money.</p>
<p>My parents and my MIL attended my son’s HS graduation. We went out to a nice dinner beforehand. Thinking back on it though it was a big ordeal. The graduation was in the stadium of our local junior college and both my mother and mother in law had problems with the amount of walking and climbing to seats. The ceremony itself was nothing memorable. I’m not sure how we’ll handle our other son’s graduation in 2013.</p>
<p>I wish I had invited my parents and sister to our high school’s awards night instead of graduation. </p>
<p>And I would have if I had known all the awards my D was going to get. But for some silly reason, the high school wants to keep it secret. It was a much nicer, smaller event than graduation and much more meaningful.</p>
<p>Teenmom, I’m sorry you’re feeling sad about this. But I don’t think it would bother me the same way.</p>
<p>When my daughter graduated from high school, we didn’t permit her younger sister or the grandparents to go. It was outdoors. It was stinking hot. Younger sister has medical problems that make it both unwise and virtually impossible for her to be exposed to oppressive heat. Grandparents are local and (thanks be to God) healthy, but are not spring chickens. Grandparents, who are local, would have attended graduation in milder weather. Aunts who are local were told they were not expected to attend, and they did not. I am sure they would have if asked.</p>
<p>Local relatives did gather for supper at our house after graduation. The graduate herself wolfed down dinner and then headed out to a graduation party at somebody else’s house.</p>
<p>We told our daughter more or less, “We’re pleased that you’re graduating, but, honestly, we never thought that you wouldn’t. We’ll make a bigger production of it when you graduate from college. Which, by the way, we also fully expect you’re going to do.”</p>
<p>I was chatting with the girl who lives next door. She is the same age as my son and both are graduating from different high schools this year. Just to make conversation, I asked her when her graduation was being held. Her reply,“I only have a limited number of tickets!” I assured her that I was just interested, I didn’t want to go! I can’t imagine volunteering to go to a high school graduation. However, I must say that my son’s graduation last week was great-- all the speakers were interesting, especially the key note speaker. The V and S were funny and smart. The band selection was wonderful and the chorus was melodic. And best of all, the air conditioning worked just fine.</p>