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<p>Because when you go $500 over budget they’ll still pay?</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s probably it. I was thinking that I might give her a call tomorrow morning to cancel the whole thing, but it would solve a lot of issues and make the whole closet a lot more functional. But it is true that I am going back and forth on the “worth it” question at this point. Fortunately I have three days to change my mind completely. Thing is, you’ve got to be willing to walk away completely if you’re going to threaten to walk away.</p>
<p>Moda…can you get an “off” brand organizer?</p>
<p>I suppose I could and I might stop by the container store today… but I cannot do it myself and certainly my husband isn’t handy… so, it’s more like a bit the bullet or dodge it completely.</p>
<p>Checking into cc after a long absence. It’s very nice to read updates about familiar families and their ‘13 students. Guess I’ve been more of a lurker than a poster - hope you’ll forgive my chiming in now. It seems so much has happened since last spring, especially now that our freshmen are starting to wind down for the year. Looking back, one thing we could have considered more: travel logistics. Public transport (train, bus) works ok, but visiting for the occasional sporting event or parents’ weekend can mean a lot of driving!</p>
<p>Moda –</p>
<p>Do you belong to Costco? They have some kind of discount deal on closet organizers – I’m not sure if it is with California Closets or someone else. We used their service for Hunter Douglas blinds, and it definitely was cheaper than other sources we got quotes from for the same blinds.</p>
<p>Moda…just googled Minneapolis closet organizers…lots of companies! Maybe you can get some other bids?</p>
<p>Dreading this afternoon. </p>
<p>Younger daughter has her zone qualifier track meet (to go on to the “Meet of Champions.”) It’s in a location where they always have the girls high jump in an indoor field, with artificial turf on concrete…she always jumps horribly there because she can’t figure out the run - there’s not really a shoe designed for those conditions. She knows she’s not going to do well and won’t advance, but she’s such a volitile little thing that she’ll still be so upset when she doesn’t advance. </p>
<p>We SO wish they’d put the boys inside and the girls outside…they think they’re being considerate of the girls, “allowing” them to jump inside, but all the girls hate it. I usually have to take her to Arby’s after such meets…cheers her up, don’t tell the Diet/Exercise thread. It’s funny - I never cared a tiny bit about anything athletic and she cares so much!</p>
<p>Missypie - I am on the Diet/Exercise thread!!! I won’t tell anybody, though. Ha!</p>
<p>kMc how amazing for your son to have had the stars allign in his favor. BRAVO!!!</p>
<p>missypie: Hope you D does better than anticipated and that if not Arby’s does the trick.</p>
<p>cpeltz: Enjoy your boy</p>
<p>northminn thanks for saying I was nice pages back ;)</p>
<p>To all of you with kids like mine who struggled first sem. Heres to them getting and staying back on their feet.</p>
<p>To the non-responsive colleges that are…well not responding…pftttttttt </p>
<p>Watched Orange County last night with the family and while it wasn’t Shakespeare we got some good laughs out of it and I loved the mother character…didn’t we all feel a bit like taking to our beds this time last year!</p>
<p>moda: Boo on being over budget but am with you in the lack of handiness dept. H did hang up the roman shades in the living room but we have had multiple town rods and picture frames crash to the floor.</p>
<p>H and twins are off for 3 days in the snow! Before leaving both contacted last summer’s employer to see if they would have work this summer. That was affirmed but we aren’t sure how much. E can fill her extra hours volunteering at the Vet’s office but K would just as soon sit around and read. If she doesn’t get her 2.0 or higher at least part of her time will be spent at the local CC on a class or two to get her to where she needs to be.</p>
<p>Thanks all; I’ll send some serendipity dust your way as well (but it may be buried in my own unorganized closet.)</p>
<p>Moda – I know a really super cheap closet organizer for you. His name is ModaSon and I believe he is looking for a way to stay in your good graces this summer 
(Just a thought. You could explain the “goodwill account” theory to him. :)</p>
<p>Relieved and happy here because my daughter just called to say she’d been offered the summer day camp job she was most hoping for. And it means we will not be having to share the car which will definitely be more relaxing. </p>
<p>I overheard a parent in the cafeteria at work lamenting that his son wanted a “summer camp” job more than internship in a business field. While I understand his perspective, I’ve always thought that summer camp jobs were the greatest college level preparation for parenthood and wish they were a universal requirement. The pay is nothing but no worse than some internships–and our adult kids get to unwind from college and learn about how to deal with whiner children, sick children, frightened children, undisciplined children, entitled parents, anxious parents, slacker colleagues, confusing bosses, malfunctioning equipment, and so on. I bet we could all relate a few stories…and how we drew on them later in the trenches of parenthood.</p>
<p>I went to the container store and here’s the thing… they wont come to the house and I would have to measure and figure out the layout. However they will install. Still just in looking at configurations, I am not sure it’s even that much cheaper. So I think what I might do is call tomorrow and say I will pay X (my budget) and you can either do it for that or not. I do want it done, but I am a member of costco and so worse case scenario I will have the same company come out from a different location and do it via that. Like I said, you just have to be willing to walk away and if I did nothing else today, I figured out hat I am willing to do that. </p>
<p>H is livid at S. I mean really ticked. Right down to “if he so much as lands on probation, he is not going back next year” ticked. I know he is just deeply disappointed at this point, but hopefully son’s meeting with the Dean on Friday will get S to fly right and get back into his dad’s good graces because frankly, he physically feels the pain of actually paying the bill. And to that, he has a point. </p>
<p>OK… so here’s a topic for some introspection and philosophical discussion (maybe).</p>
<p>You know how we were all fretting about leadership crap when our kids were applying to school? All very valuable stuff, but if we’re to believe the hype (and there’s a question in itself) everyone’s a flippin leader at some of this competitive schools. I know son can be a leader (seemed to be a very good and positive one in the past), and while I know he can use this gift for good, he’s no angel. He is also living among other strong leaders. So, certainly everyone is accountable for their own actions and that is going to be our biggest lecture point going forward, but I was also thinking about the subject of who you are hanging out with, choosing good friends etc (which he seems to have done), but at the same time, wouldn’t the other parents be thinking the same thing about who their kid is hanging out with? Believe me, I wouldn’t like to think my son is a ring leader for intentional and devious mischief, and it wouldn’t be his MO per say as far as I know (operative propositional phrase there), but leave it to me to obsess about it all. Was just curious how a bunch of leader kids determine the level of leadership amongst themselves!</p>
<p>I agree with the summer camp job. I am thinking that would be a perfect job for D16 next summer. Thing is, if you play summer sports, it’s almost impossible to make it work with schedules.</p>
<p>Peonies, welcome back. Yes the travel thing can sure make life complicated. I can already foresee a time when S will opt to find an apartment do he can stay put instead of having to leave the dorm during breaks.</p>
<p>Summer camp: The local YMCA Camp on a Lake here is looking for volunteers. I think if S cannot find a paying job I am going to insist he work there as preparation for a future paying tech camp job or just prep for life</p>
<p>oh moda - that’s a lot to think about after 2 glasses of wine. I really don’t think I can offer a thoughtful response because for all of the prompting and prodding I did to encourage leadership in my 2 kiddies, they are the anti-Christ of leadership. They definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer - and nobody followed them!
However…I definitely saw jockeying for the alpha-male position when D brought her buddies home from college last week. I think that the low-key, silently but deadly kind of guy definitely won that battle. It appears that the playing field has changed dramatically from their high school days.
Hi peonies! Welcome back!</p>
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<p>A while back we were talking to a dad with a D Son’s age who had developed a drug problem. The dad said, “She got in with the wrong crowd.” We started wondering if the other parents were saying the same thing about her - that she was the “wrong crowd” who got *their *kids in trouble.</p>
<p>I do think kids influence each other - they might get into certain kinds of mischief in a group that they wouldn’t consider individually.</p>
<p>Oh do I see that! It is playing out right now with D2 and her roomie. She is a nice girl and has wanted to leave the school and transfer just like D2 is. Her mother absolutely forbids her to leave and walk away from the scholarship. So roomie has had to make some friend choices…stay with D2 or connect with the girls who she will be with next year. She has tried to play both sides. Last weekend she went over to the on campus apt of the girls staying and they got busted for drinking by campus security. This is the second time she has socialized with these girls and the second time she has been caught! She received an underage consumption warning, $80 fine and has to attend 8 hours of alcohol education. Citation stays on campus record. No word on whether there will be repercussions from coach but I doubt it. Everyone in apt was cited, no breathalyzer used. It’s all about choices.</p>
<p>I call some of this Eddie Haskel syndrome. Fortunately or unfortunately, my kids don’t really know who Eddie Haskel is. But even Wally and the Beaver could not blame all their poor decision making on this one kid, even if the bone-head moves weren’t necessarily their idea.</p>
<p>D&H are on their way back to town today. Do you think they will notice that I have accomplished very little in their absence? I did, however, clean out the master bathroom and when I was at the container store, I bought some things to make some organizational order out of all the stuff. Does Baby powder go bad?</p>
<p>Moda, this is just a quick thought as I have to go be “productive” in a sec, but I don’t know that I would personally go there with Modason re: what kind of friends are you choosing because that in essence suggests he’s not the “leader” (or at least self-possessed kid) that he likely is and it’s a little infantalizing to tell a clever quasi-adult that an action they took had anything to do with peer pressure. Truly, that ‘dog don’t hunt’. I would take the tack instead of “for whatever reason or lack thereof, you chose to be out of integrity with the rules of your school for what, yes, amounts to mischief but that also lands for the dean like “watch out for Modason – he’s a rule-breaker.” So the first time you need administration to have your back, are they going to want to have your back? Fund up your goodwill account with the admins and make the good choices I know you’re able to make.”</p>
<p>(Okay, can you tell I’ve had this conversation before? Did I tell you about McSon choosing to stay up late/out with whoever etc. and then sleeping through an exam, and then having to beg to take the exam, and having to own responsibility for the consequences of his idiocy? Just so you know, there’s a lot of flaky to go around, Modason does not have the market cornered Fortunately, McSon was able to “fund up” his goodwill account and as a result, charmed by his self-flagellating candor, the prof and gsi in question allowed him to take the exam another time, which I don’t think I would have!)</p>
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<p>So funny you should ask. I was trying to figure out how to make the space under the sinks less cluttered and I spied four full containers of baby powder. Given that they surely date from the early 90s I’m going to answer in the affirmative, yes they go bad. Or more like, which of us is ever going to put an 18 year old product on our skin?</p>