Hooray, @missypie! That’s absolutely wonderful news.
It’s heartening that so many families have supported their kids who are making their progress and improving their health. I hope they are all able to live lives that are happy and productive, with or without degrees and credentials.
When my S, HS class of 04, finally graduated (from the university he dropped out of during senior year) he joked that he should have written on his mortarboard “Class of 08” crossed out, with “Class of 14” written under it.
I salute all the families who stood by their students rather than drawing lines. In the end, it’s so, so much more rewarding for them, and for us.
Congrats! It often is a marathon not a sprint. Every child is different. This is a nice antidote to all the “my child got a B and now his life is ruined” type threads.
Wonderfully news! The harder the journey, the sweeter the prize.
What a tremendous achievement. Sincere and heartfelt congratulations to the OP’s son, the OP, and other families and students with similar journeys.
Our D walked in the college graduation ceremony with her friends the year she had been on track to graduate. I am grateful her U allowed it. She went back and did another year to complete her degree, 6 years from when she left HS. She still was faster than H, who back in the day took 7 years to graduate as he washed out in engineering and switched to accounting and was working his way thru school.
Sometimes folks learn in different ways. Both D and H have no regrets about the time they spent in college and enjoyed the journey. Fortunately, we were able to handle the unexpected extra year of tuition and expenses for D.
Congratulations to you and your son! Everyone is different and your son’s journey was a success. And thank you for your honesty. I find parents brag more than are honest and it very refreshing that you have shared openly.
Congratulations to @missypie and her S. I remember your journey. I think your S was lucky to have such a supportive parent who didn’t give up on him.
have one who took 8 years (had multiple issues and took a lot of time off). That was my academic kid who should have handled school with a breeze. Another will finish hopefully next May. That one will be 6 years after HS. She is smart but had severe anxiety which resulted in not completely finishing all her classes each quarter. She has switched to an online program which works better for her. Ironically my kid who had the most trouble academically and ADHD wise throughout his years in school finished in 4 years.
I have been on CC for a longtime. Having a wide age span between my kids. I have read so many posts over the years where parents draw that line in the sand that I’m only paying for 4 years. My 2 that are taking longer had circumstances in their lives that just didn’t make those rigid lines workable. What I discovered along the way was the philosophy that as long as they are doing the next right thing I am willing to support them. Or as many have stated to love the kid on the couch. I want mentally and physically healthy children.
Yes, I just want our kids to keep moving ahead. D had to take weekly B-12 injections for her final semester of school to be physically able to get to class and complete her work. She’s needle-phobic, so I am very proud of her for doing what it took to get her degree and all the steps she’s taken since to get treated by the providers who are trying to get her healthy enough to hold a job.
It has been a very long journey for her and all of us but I’m glad we’ve been able to support her through it. She’s now had her chronic illness for nearly two decades and still no fully effective treatment.
Pretty much my favorite CC saying.
For any who don’t know it: Love the kid on the couch, not the kid you wish you had.
After years of not reading much on CC, I read this thread today about all of your continued work and trial and error with your kids and college, community college, and time off in-between. My son’s story is the same, and to read about MissyPie’s happy success for her son at the end of a long college road is thrilling. It gives me hope and energy to continue along with my son who is probably in the middle of his college road, after a college experience so incredibly similar to many of your kids’ experiences. All of us should find a way to meet in a chat room somewhere so that we could talk on a more regular basis and exchange ideas, sorrows, and successes. Until then, thanks so much for this wonderful thread.
If you stay on n CC for years, you’ll realize that many wonderful children face some trauma. It can be an illness, a car accident, a breakup, anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and so on. And us parents face so much, from death of a spouse, downsizing,financial ups and downs, family issues with siblings or parents, divorce, …
It’s joyful to read MissyPie’s most recent posts.