<p>For D1 we had a large open house. They are very popular around here. It is hard to plan since you have no idea how many kids will attend. I think we had close to 300 with friends, family and classmates. I cooked some of the dishes and then also had it partially catered with kitchen help. The big hit was the chocolate fountain and the small chest freezer out on the deck filled with ice cream novelties! I planted all of my flower beds with flowers in school colors and then had matching flowers on all the tables set up on the lawn. The open house was 3-6 and no alcohol was served BUT our close friends knew to stay and at 6 when the kids left we served drinks and had an adult party that went until the wee hours of the morning. It was very fun!</p>
<p>Our grad gift to her was a nice piece of jewelry. We give cash to other grads…$20-$100 depending on relationship. Actually we give $20.08 for alot of the casual friends… the change part for whatever grad year it is.</p>
<p>Jolynne, with our 3 we did the nice dinner out. In one case, friends of ours who also had children who were friends with our graduate joined us. For the other 2 it was all family.</p>
<p>For grad gift we gave a few shares of stock and luggage (that would have had to be purchased anyway ;)).</p>
<p>College grad gift: I gave my S a cookbook to help him in the move from his college house, shared with 6 other kids, some of them female and good cooks, to his work apartment, shared with a similarly clueless male!</p>
<p>northminnesota: love the ice cream idea!!! I think I’ll cancel the ice cream tubs I ordered and do that…Did they stay frozen or did you bring them out towards the end???</p>
<p>When my fiance and I moved in together, his mother gave us a huge binder full of family recipes. We are both very good cooks because we both have worked in high end kitchens, however, this was our most treasured gifts. The recipes have names like “Uncle John’s Crab Cakes” and “Linguini Afraido (a childhood pronunciation).” When my little sister graduates from college I will do the same for her.</p>
<p>We had a small chest freezer…one that plugs in. The ice cream treats were big hits with the kids. We had ice cream sandwiches, push ups, Fudgcicles, popcicles, nutty buddys, etc. My kids aren’t cake eaters so we had to come up with something else.</p>
<p>JS…I love to garden! School colors were blue,silver, white, black. I used blue lobelia and hydranga, white impatiens and geraniums, lambs ear for silver. Some planters had sweet potato vine for the almost black. It was fun to do.</p>
<p>DHRBC–I also got my hub’s childhood recipe’s from mom-in-law. Problem is, hub doesn’t want 1970s meatloaf, etc. & would prefer the food he’s sampled as he’s traveled the world w/work. Too bad, because I can’t swing the international cuisine but could have handled those Kraft mac 'n cheese casseroles, lol!</p>
<p>Thought I would give an update…
Party went fine despite having to be completely indoors due to all the midwest rainfall that I am sure you have seen on the news. Cousin never caught up to me and didn’t crash the party either. No one got out of hand and no adults tried to serve their kids liquor. Everyone had a blast and we received many follow-up comments about how D’s party was so enjoyable and a great mix of people. The most important thing is that D had the BEST time and said it was exactly how she wanted it to be- with everyone she loves all together meeting & talking and laughing away the night.</p>
<p>Interesting enough, the next night, a friend of D’s mom thought that she would take it upon herself to host a sleep over with the main purpose of “teaching” the girls in their friendship group to drink. The mom did not contact many of the parents of these 17 & 18 year olds(including me - I suspect because she KNOWS where I stand, my daughter told me about it) and most of the girls begged off from the “training session.” I could have contacted the mom and confronted her, but decided against it because it would have just been a negative cap on an otherwise spectacular weekend.
How did everyone else’s parties go???</p>
<p>Oh also…She got one of those checks for 20.08 - that was too cute. We decorated in her new university colors (just flower arrangements so it was pretty subtle) some people were curious what was going on(“Aren’t [high school] colors [xyz]?”) until I said, “Those are her past, this is her future!”</p>
<p>This has been great! My D asked for a “launching” party, end of summer, as she will be a camp counselor and gone most of the summer, back briefly, and then moving thousands of miles away. None of her friends ( currently) drink, so I am not TOO worried,and don’t plan to serve alchohol, but she did mention that they had talked of having their first drink together many months ago.</p>
<p>believersmom: “The cousin is not welcome in my home, especially on a special family day because he has in the past & likely will this day also ruin it for the other guests or create a scene due to mental and addiction problems. Trust me, the interest to be here has NOTHING to do with “reaching out” or celebrating with the grad on her special day. He was the one who cut off contact years ago when I set some healthy boundaries for him and sadly it was a relief. My main question was really how do I tactfully deal with this if he catches up to me (he called AGAIN but I was gone, and I am not at this point returning any phone calls - but we have a week to go - LOL).”</p>
<p>What if you were to call and explain that as a consequence of past behavior, you couldn’t have him as a guest on that day, but you’d be happy to all meet him on a separate day for breakfast or lunch or something?</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound preachy (this person may have burned bridges with you permanently for good reason), but I have an extra big heart for those who suffer from mental illness and addiction. They fit the “Those who are the hardest to love, need the most love” philosophy. Of course, you may have been pushed too far (and I respect that). And you certainly didn’t deserve to have your party disrupted.</p>
<p>If all bridges are not burned permanently, perhaps as a gesture of kindness (something to offer up, so to speak) could you offer to break bread with him on a different day? Small gestures of kindness can have an enormous impact for others. The consequence is still there, but compassion is as well.</p>