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</p>
<p>Possible, LOL.</p>
<p>Actually D always complains that the “stupid” kids (her words, not mine) are the most competitive and nasty about academics. The kids in her higher level classes are a lot nicer about sharing homework and helping each other. She also does much better in harder classes.</p>
<p>Bengalmom: Not only do I read it daily in the paper, but I own a couple of Zits Books and my mom sends me copies of the strip (that I’ve already seen!) periodically. It hit closer to home with S1 than S2 but is still uncanny in its accuracy. Can’t believe it applies to daughters, too tho.</p>
<p>CountingDown: The torture ended here too when S1 left for college…just a different type of torture…the constant nagging to get it in gear and get into college and get out of my house!</p>
<p>Wouldn’t you know – the one piece of college snail mail ds got today was from a college he’s very interested in about its Junior Visit Day. Unfortunately, that day he’ll be out of town at a state convention for the organization he’s president of, so there’s no way he would/should miss that. He will be so bummed. I wonder whether parents can go without the kid? Maybe I can get my 14yo to be his stand in! :)</p>
<p>“How are you ever going to survive at college if you don’t/can’t/won’t…” was a constant refrain around here last year. Well, S1 seems to have simplified his life and is doing just fine. Does his laundry, has a job, eats reasonably well, has fun, is doing well academically…don’t know what the heck happened, and I’m not sure I could take credit for it anyway if I knew!</p>
<p>S2 has far less tolerance for my advice. He was bemoaning my suggestions last night and DH had tears of laughter rolling down his cheeks because S2 was dramatically interpreting my “incessant nagging” to mean I was devastated that he wasn’t going to do an Intel project. Huh??? Intel and this child’s name have not been mentioned in the same sentence since 9th grade when it became clear that what S2 wanted to do just couldn’t be done – not even the experts he contacted could get their hands on the materials.</p>
<p>Ds also totally puts words in my mouth, saying I said things I NEVER said. </p>
<p>I recently heard a psychologist talk about how the teen brain “works” 
and because they operate from a place of emotion, rather than reason and judgment, they often don’t get the subtleties of what we’ve said, so that any little comment gets construed as massive criticism. I’ve taken that to heart and started to just keep my mouth shut more.</p>
<p>LOL about the teenage brain.</p>
<p>I’m on the board of our Ed Foundation. I made arrangements with the calculus teacher to come to his class and get a picture of them using a new document imaging system which we had funded, to use in a slide show at our big dinner.</p>
<p>So I introduce myself, note that I’m xxx’s Mom, explain why I’m taking the picture, tout the ed foundation a bit.</p>
<p>I pick S up after school and he says, “Did you tell the calculus class you were my mother?” I said yes, and told him I spent more time talking about the ed foundation. He said, “Oh, okay.” Apparently the only word he heard was that I got in front of the class an announced I was his Mom, period!</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - so, that explains why D overreacts to so much of what I say! Thank you! I feel so much better.</p>
<p>overreaction is a way of life here!</p>
<p>QM - but aren’t you glad there’s an explanation for all that overreaction? It gives me hope that things will improve.</p>
<p>Yeah, but my tongue is sore from biting it so often!</p>
<p>Mine, too!</p>
<p>^^ 
^^</p>
<p>we sure are bumping up the post counts now! The '09’ers are in a lull until their acceptances start to come in, this is a time for us to close the gap! :D</p>
<p>For the umpteenth time today, my D changed her mind. She is now not dropping French and is taking AB. This is supposedly final but I can always sic H on the guidance counselor and get everything changed if D changes her mind again. ;)</p>
<p>Is anyone else dealing with an ever growing list of possible majors? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that my son is finding new passions while still remaining interested in his long time loves. However, finding colleges that have all his potential majors is getting more and more difficult. </p>
<p>I always thought he’d be a small college match. But I’ll tell you what, a big university with a small honors college is looking better and better.</p>
<p>I was thinking the opposite (because, yes, ds is feeling fluid about majors these days). Wouldn’t a smaller environment be more flexible?</p>
<p>pugmadkate- maybe big or small isn’t the main issue, but maybe he should lean more towards more well rounded schools instead of tech schools. I majored in engineering but did not pick a tech school because I wanted a more diverse student body. And I liked taking a couple classes in the hotel school, that was fun. </p>
<p>Also maybe a school with more distribution/core requirements would help him be exposed to more things and decide what he likes best.</p>
<p>Kate: S2 is definitely there too. Started with journalism; last year after a stint of counseling, added psychology; last week, out of the blue said he was contemplating math as a major. Whooooa. Excels in math, but always claimed to hate it. Apparently he’s developed an interested in pre-calc subjects. So, yes, we are also concentrating on universities with a wide array of colleges/schools/majors.</p>
<p>S1 was so easy. Was born knowing his college major. Virtually only applied to one (engineering specialty) school. Hasn’t looked back since. S2 is all over map literally (from Gonzaga to Boston College) and with his major interest. All the college mailings and emails aren’t helping.</p>
<p>S1 was born knowing his passion, too. We have pics of him at the computer at 12 months. He was writing stories on it by his fourth birthday, launched a website on his 9th birthday and was publishing TI-83 games online in 6th grade. No surprises there!</p>
<p>S2 has his fingers in many pots – he is looking for schools that are broad enough to accommodate his interests and deep enough to pursue them fully. It’s a pretty diverse list at this point.</p>
<p>LOL CountingDown your firstbirn sounds so much like mine, though we didn’t bring a computer home until he was six. But he started programming in first grade and did a website for me when he was nine. (I even paid him $20!)</p>
<p>Our son is also all over the map. Most interested in history at this point, but he makes origami earrings, is competent at math and physics and still likes to read his Air and Space magazine.</p>