<p>Wow… cpeltz, this seems more like a little skip than a baby step. Well done. Plus, he has built in tutors, and as long as they aren’t native speakers they will serve him very well indeed.</p>
<p>Missy - seriously, sometimes I am tired just READING your posts! But the musical sounds fun as does the cheer competition (did you find earplugs for the inlaws?) And speaking of which, I assume they are in town to see the musical as well?</p>
<p>For some odd reason, or maybe’s it’s because we are a very small school, our plays and musicals are a one weekend show, which has proven unfortunate over the years.</p>
<p>And Woody? I laughed outloud about meatloaf. That is one crazy night you have planned for yourself.</p>
<p>S and I have been trying to have a date night since Christmas. Granted, he’s been traveling a lot and we never go out on a weeknight, but mostly that’s because the nights we’re home we’re just glad to NOT have to go anywhere. Tonight D has a B-ball game (but she’s gotten into two varsity games while playing the entire JV to the point of near exhaustion come the end of second half) and then tomorrow it’s a driving marathon between one end of town for a lacrosse thing and then to the completely other side for a game an hour later. We will be cutting it close for sure. </p>
<p>Got a text from S to say he wasn’t going out of town this weekend but was leaving to go skiing so it was GTG (got to go). I am beginning to hate those letters.</p>
<p>Semester grades for D16 are out today. She doesn’t take accelerated classes and so it’s important that she does really well. She is a good student, but she did confess the other night that it has proven hard to follow her brother. He was a natural and there have been two teachers (who she doesn’t even have) who have specifically stopped her to see how he was doing in college and to note he was one of the best students they have ever had. She concludes from this that she doesn’t measure up. Sheesh. Girls.</p>
<p>Missypie - DD was in every production in high school. Just went from play to play to dessert theatre to cabaret to play…It was her life. And ours, too. I miss being a Drama Mama.</p>
<p>Exact same thing here Modadunn - D16 is also worried that if she doesn’t get into a well known college that everyone will look down on her! Oh man, I’d hate to be a teen again. She has so much anxiety that I just paid the extra $20 fees to change the ACT & SAT dates to June. Poor kid. I don’t think the pressure is coming from me - but from herself. Plus she has had her heart set on an impossible reach school (UCLA) since she was 10 years old and I’ve very gently explained to her that there is no way I can afford that as an OOSer. ::deep sighs:: :(</p>
<p>Modadunn: Teachers really SHOULDN’T do that. I know they are just showing interest and being friendly etc. but sometimes the simplest comment makes a kid want to shrink.</p>
<p>Dizzi: sigh…hugs to you and your D! It’s tough. Good to have that conversation now. There are UCLAesque schools depending on what it is about UCLA she loves so there is hope.</p>
<p>woody: Meatloaf comment made me LOL! With one still in the nest we have homecoming tonight where DS, will be freshman prince! Plus we have his BBall game which should result in a win and some decent playing time. Now if he could match his academic performance to his social and athletic ones he’d be set.</p>
<p>DDs are off on a retreat for the whole weekend. They are looking forward to it and I’m happy for them.</p>
<p>cpeltz, think your S can send my D a message about picking up the pieces from a disappointing semester?</p>
<p>missy, some of my favorite roles were as “chorus girl #2” Good Luck to your D</p>
<p>D spent many shows in the dance chorus which she enjoyed because that was her strength. She did get a small “named” part in her final HS musical. She was really more excited to get the script book (that has a name but I can’t remember it now).</p>
<p>D just went through rush and accepted a bid last night. She called and I don’t think I’ve heard her that excited since she was accepted at her first choice school last spring. Anything I should be aware of or think about from anyone who’s been through this? The house doesn’t house too many girls and there’s a waiting list so just about the only thing I know is that she won’t be required (or able) to live in.</p>
<p>collage1, congrats to your daughter. I’m sure she will make lots of great friends.</p>
<p>We are packing the car this morning to take to S1 (after H finishes his run). When H dropped him off on Wednesday, we left him with a camp cot that his feet hang off, a sleeping bag and not much else. He wants my space heater since he is freezing. I work in a sunroom that stays pretty darn cold but don’t want to buy a second one for a couple of months’ need, so I guess that will be my sacrifice for the prodigal son. As he was listing clothes that he wanted, H had to tell him that S2 went shopping in his closet while he was gone and many of those items are no longer here. He appeared to take that as a compliment so not upset. </p>
<p>He also asked for fun books to read and his snowboard/boots. I think fun is higher on his agenda than academics this semester, but he always does what it takes to at least get a B in his classes (my kids never internalized an A as a reasonable goal). I don’t have that confidence yet in S2, but this semester appears to be starting out OK. S2 says he is now officially a nerd (said with pride) since he takes his laptop to class (presumably the CS class requires this).</p>
<p>collage1 - Congrats to to your D. I can’t really give any advice because my own sorority days were long,long ago except that it was a great experience and I made some wonderful friends.
Also, as I mentioned on another thread, sorority rush (called membership selection these days) was a great training for job interviews!</p>
<p>thanks for all the messages you guys are the best. Please pray for my friends and colleagues from Childrens Hospital who have gone to Haiti. My friend Nelson has written on the Childrens Hospital (Boston) blog and is talking about the good work people are doing from all over the country.</p>
<p>Back in the senseless death category, have ya’ll heard of car surfing? I guess a passenger opens the door to a moving car and stands up while holding onto the inside…it’s apparently a thing for young idiots to do. One of our HS seniors died Thursday night doing this…jeez, kids are always thinking of stupid ways to kill themselves, huh? (We didn’t know him. I looked him up in the yearbook and he was a senior last year, too.)</p>
<p>collage1–my neice rushed last yearand when accepted a bid, I suggested my sister send her flowers. It turned out it was the right thing to do–send them to the house if she will be there in the next few days or send them to her dorm. I remembered this from when I did not get flowers as my mom did not know but my sister did as I told mom about this. However, I imagine this is different from school to school and sorority to sorority. Congrats to your D! Oh, I then went on the web and found her sorority site/store and ordered a necklace for her and had that sent. She loved it.</p>
<p>missypie - a senseless death indeed. how sad.</p>
<p>Until I read all your posts I didn’t know competition cheer existed nor whether our HS even had a team, but today I walked into the local grocery store and discovered our HS competition cheer team raising money to go to Nationals! Who knew? So thanks to all of you, I didn’t embarrass myself (or D2) by saying “competition cheer? what’s that?” ;)</p>
<p>D1 pledged a sorority last fall. I know nothing about Greek anything, but I guess fall rush is unusual? Anyway, she went through the whole thing with me on the sidelines, being completely clueless and somewhat stunned - this was the last thing I expected her to do in college. But she was accepted, loves it, loves her “sisters”, has already organized one of their fundraisers and redesigned their website over break. Other than the absolute fortune she has invested in custom-made sweatshirts with Greek letters on them, I think it’s a good thing for her. She did post on my FB wall a link for a belly-button ring with her sorority’s letters, as a joke. (She DOES NOT have her belly-button pierced. As far as I know…:eek:)</p>
<p>Saw S1 yesterday. His house has seven bedrooms (thus seven roommates). The kitchen and bathroom were squalid, so I did some deep cleaning of both just for fun (plus cleaned S’s room). I was itching to clean the rest of the common areas (living room, hallways, but didn’t have time). S1 doesn’t care about the filth at all. I gave him a talk about how he should keep common areas clean as a sign of respect for others no matter how he maintains his own room. Not that he created any of this mess, having just arrived, but I can see him as a future contributor. We expect him to get a roommate when he goes back to Rio, so he needs to grow up a little on this score, in my view. </p>
<p>Otherwise, I like the place. Very affordable and the other kids we met all seemed really nice and a pretty eclectic mix. S doesn’t need a car since he can walk to both his job (which has welcomed him back) and classes. He has enough friends with cars he can get a ride to the grocery store when needed. He looked tan and was in a good mood. He likes his classes this semester.</p>
<p>He commented that one of his friends just turned down a well-known prestigious consulting firm job offer to accept a job with a less prestigious consulting outfit that showed him the love more. The money was essentially the same. I’m happy to see kids thinking in terms of fit as well as prestige as they make career choices. One of his friends accepted an investment banking job that I personally think will be a poor fit for this kid’s personality, so will be interesting to see how that plays out. S1 is now the last of his group who has yet to accept a job. He expects his offer to be finalized by early March and doesn’t seem in the least worried about it (but then this child is not one to worry about anything that I can tell).</p>
<p>I’m planning to send cupcake makings: cake mix, sprinkles, valentine-y cupcake papers (D and her buddy love to make treats in the kitchen down the hall). And probably some door decorating things and silly stuff like hairclips. D is in good communication with her inner child, as am I.</p>
<p>Wow, TheAnalyst! S sounds like he has it all together. Good for him! Although in S’s experience, more roommates = more dysfunction in general. 7 sounds like a lot.
For Valentine’s, I’m sending D lots of “kid” valentines that she can pass out, individual valentine M&Ms, heart garland, stickers for her door and a heart-shaped cake pan with cake mix and icing.(All at local Stop and Shop for < $15.)
If she gets a bid from her first choice sorority today, I’ll probably order something from that as well.
I’ll send S a card and some chocolate.</p>
<p>Chinablue, you beat me to it. I was just thinking about Valentine’s treats.</p>
<p>Yesterday was day 1 of another cheer competition. My parents are in town to see the musical and the competition. There were non-stop STROBE LIGHTS…I was afraid my dad was going to have a seizure. My D said it was really annoying to have strobe lights while they were performing. What were they thinking?</p>
<p>D’s team was next to perform…then one girl from the preceding team didn’t leave the mat…instead she threw up…in front of hundreds of people…it must happen frequently, because the crew was all ready with the shop vac…they changed the music to “Take This Job and Shove it” and the Barney clean up song. At least that girl has her “life’s most embarrassing moment” out of the way.</p>