<p>I’ll start. Yesterday a large envelope arrived in our mailbox. It was an application D1 (age 21) had sent to an organization for a summer internship. Cover letter, resume, etc. It had… one first class stamp on it. Had been ripped open, then returned as short on postage. Although she is not living at home right now, she used our home address as her return address.</p>
<p>Apparently D1 was not aware that you couldn’t just put a first class stamp on an envelope of any size and weight and drop it in the mail. I assume her other envelopes that have not been returned had postage paid on the receiving end, then were dropped in the waste basket. Sigh. Good thing some apps were all online…</p>
<p>D1- Just this weekend she called me to ask if she had to pay a parking ticket she got in Virginia because she lives in DC! She assumed VA was like DC and the permit parking did not apply after 8:00pm.</p>
<p>That wasn’t a great example as there are so many, but the first that came to mind as it was recent. Give me time and I will remember to really good ones!</p>
<p>My oldest ( this was when she was about 12?) has triple thick long eyelashes ( as do I , but hers are dark, mine are pale). She was trying on contacts & having a heck of a time, I mentioned to her that we might have to cut her eyelashes.</p>
<p>I was kidding.</p>
<p>She cut them with the little scissors from her Swiss Army knife.</p>
<p>First time driving himself to a doctor appointment on his own. Told him to make sure he had his insurance card with him. He gave the receptionist - his auto insurance card!</p>
<p>When in high school, my daughter wanted to use her new debit card for a purchase while on vacation. She had not signed it yet. To be helpful, the clerk suggested that instead of signing it, she write “See I.D” to protect against a thief using the card.</p>
<p>I guess she didn’t understand. She took a bold black felt tip marker and carefully printed “C.I.D.” where her signature should be.</p>
<p>Criminal Investigation Division?</p>
<p>She is still carrying that stupid card around. I laugh every time I see it.</p>
<p>D1 once proposed to meet up with some friend from out of town on the beach at 3:00 AM. We told her that’s the hour when people get murdered or worse. She didn’t do it, but I was shocked that she was willing to do it. To this day I still don’t know what such a smart girl was thinking.</p>
<p>Son was running out of cash on campus. Said his debit card wasn’t working at the ATM. When he came home I said “Get out your debit card and I’ll call the bank to see what the problem is.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out his Amex card.</p>
<p>I usually book hotels for kids with my credit card to get the points etc… so when S was on a trip and getting packed in the morning he called me to ask what time checkout was??? Still tease him to this day about how easy it would be for him to ask the hotel personnel or walk over and look on the back of the door…Gah…</p>
<p>My son is a college freshman. I drove him when we went to college admit day, Orientation, for a trip to the financial aid office, when we dropped him off at school, when we visited for Parents weekend, and when he came home for Thanksgiving. My husband took him back after Christmas Break and they got lost twice (after getting off on the correct off-ramp) because he had NO IDEA how to get to his dorm.</p>
<p>Our daughter returned to school across country after the winter break. She turned 21 in February and called me a few days later to ask how to renew her driver’s license. She knew that it needed to be renewed but did not think it was a big deal. She is now 3000 miles away with an expired driver’s license and no state issued ID to fly home with in May. We are appealing to the DMV to try to get something temporary at least. I had been after her to get a passport but of course she put that off also.I don’t know how she is going to get on a plane - maybe she will have to stay there! HEr bigger concern is that now she is 21 some of the bars won’t serve her because her license is expired- go figure!</p>
<p>^^^^Hey my son was getting ready to go to Italy for the spring semester so his passport was in the Italian consulate and he was packing up his dorm room to put stuff in storage and he mailed his campus id, his driver’s license, and his debit card home for “safe keeping”. Time to get on the airplane to come home for Christmas and he had no id. They finally let him on with his Library of Congress reader’s card, which is stamped right on the front “Not an Official Government ID”. Our guess is that they think terrorists don’t read.</p>
<p>Daughter is just shy of 22, senior in college, “A” student, has been living on her own year round in the city where her school is since end of freshman year. Has handled herself well with good city living/streets smarts. Sunday night, went with her to a dive of a private club/bar located in the city for a benefit show for an HIV research foundation in which a friend was performing. Was asked by the staff if she wanted to check her coat and if so to remove any valuables. She said she did but had no valuables in the pocket - “just her car keys”. If that wasn’t bad enough, I told her I would hold the keys, took the coat from the staff, reached into the pocket, and discovered that “just the keys” was her key ring attached to a little mini-wallet containing her license, owner’s card and a VISA credit card in my name used for gas and car repairs! When I questioned her, her response was “No one is going to steal anything here”!!! And this from a kid who has demonstrated time and time again that she is really a smart, aware person who has managed her life living in the city very well.</p>
<p>Consolation- that wasn’t even my * impulsive* child-:)</p>
<p>My youngest has both pierced her own ears ( she was 6-her lobe was already pierced-but she stuck post earrings through the shell of her ear- both sides!)
& has taken off her own braces ( on her teeth) the same day they were put on. ( I am only guessing that perhaps the glue wasn’t quite set- ). </p>
<p>Not to mention she broke her wrist( she was 7) & when I wasn’t watching she had twisted her arm back and forth inside of her cast so that * luckily- it had already healed* on the day we were going to the pediatrician to have her cast removed- it had already come off when she was sleeping.
( gave me a start- I will tell you)
I made her stick it back on- because the nurses had already given both of us the 3rd degree when she broke it.
Even though it happened at our house when she was running around outside with two of her friends & the mom + her kids that she had been playing with came to the dr as well- I will never forget the day- because it was the first time I had saw Pearl Jam live :D- the mom & I came back from the concert- to find all three kids - jumping on the sofa bed. ( Yes my H was home- but don’t ask me what he was doing.</p>
<p>I don’t count those as dumb things though- cause the way I understand her, she * had to* do them. She is a funny girl.</p>
<p>( She also paid extra every time she had too much luggage on a flight around India & UAE even though she could have shipped them home-, she finally mailed some of them home, but then gave away a lot of stuff she had just bought so she wouldn’t have to carry it.-sigh- but then I was dumb to not give her my measurements when she was having clothing made in India- she brought me some anyway- but I have a feeling Indian women are much smaller than me- cause I can barely get it over my head- let alone move in it :o )</p>
<p>I think we used to have a dumb adult thread- maybe I will start another one- like when my H hit a parked car a block from our house yesterday- I don’t understand it either </p>
<p>Our kids aren’t the only ones . . . I had heard that you are supposed to carry photocopies of your passport and ID when you travel overseas. So, on my way to the airport for a 3 week trip to SA, I stopped at the post office to make the photocopies. When I got to the airport, I realized I had left my driver’s license on the glass plate. Luckily, I could use my passport for a travel ID but I had to get a new DL as soon as I got home.</p>
<p>My daughter went to Boston for a few days last month with a friend. The day they were to leave for home, her friend found out that her flight had been cancelled and they had to head to the airport earlier than expected. Because she had to deal with several bags and a heavy coat she decided to put her laptop in her checked baggage. Loose, wrapped in a sweat shirt, unlocked suitcase. She checked the bag as soon as she got to the airport, four hours before her flight! She sat there for four hours with no laptop, despite the fact that she had essays to write and homework to finish. I am just grateful that the thing was still in her bag when she got home, and in working condition.</p>
<p>Just this week. DD told us she had lost her Ipod, honest mum I don’t know how it happened. She asked at both the school offices and all her teachers, if it had been found. 3 days later she checked her pocket and there it was, she is now in the process of having to tell everyone what happened. I am enjoying this because at some point I think I was to blame!</p>
<p>When I got to the airport, I realized I had left my driver’s license on the glass plate. Luckily, I could use my passport for a travel ID but I had to get a new DL as soon as I got home.</p>
<p>I bet that happens a lot.
Glad I have a scanner/photocopier - even if I do have to hand feed the paper in.</p>
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