<p>MOSB,</p>
<p>I am holding you to those tickets at Carnegie Hall-what an amazing story-thank you so much for sharing it with us.</p>
<p>On a sad note, I want to share with you that my dad passed away last night. I will be away from CC for a short while, but will be thinking of all of you and the FAFSA and IDOC and Profile.</p>
<p>MOSB: this is what parenting is all about… helping our children not only get through the tough times but learn from them in a way that they can get through tougher times later in life when we are not as physically present in their lives as we are now. Thanks for sharing - you and your D are both truly inspiring.</p>
<p>ohiomom - so sorry to hear of the loss of your dad. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.</p>
<p>amandak - thanks for checking in. I have thought of you often in the last few days and my prayers are still with you.</p>
<p>Ohiomom: I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I’ll be thinking about you and your family this week.</p>
<p>We’ve had too much sad news reported on this thread recently. Let’s hope that this is the last one for a while.</p>
<p>ohiomom: Our family’s prayers are with you and your family. </p>
<p>mosb: Such a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing.</p>
<p>And I agree with momjr. We’ve had way too much sadness in this thread lately. To me, the amazing aspect is how the families represented here have handled each tragedy with strength, sensitivity and compassion. I wish we all lived in the same town and could share coffee with each other on a regular basis. (Or a glass of wine on a nice beach…as I look out the window at the foot of snow in my back yard!)</p>
<p>Have a great week everyone.</p>
<p>ohiomom my deepest sympathies.</p>
<p>I was at a funeral for a good friends’ mom yesterday. We all commented about how many of us are either dealing with the loss of a parent or significant illness/decline of a parent. It is very hard. My prayers to all of you - it does seem that everyday another one of us posts some sad news.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for the good news we heat. MOSB- congrats to SB and thank you for sharing. I felt I was there with you. </p>
<p>Let’s hope all of us get our fair measure of the good news. Perhaps this week will bring some “reachy” acceptances, some BIG merit aid, some fantastic interviews/auditions, and scholarship victories. </p>
<p>Church, chili making, and football for me today (no college anything!)</p>
<p>ohiomom: so sorry about the loss of your dad. You will be in our thoughts and prayers. Take care of yourself in this hard time.</p>
<p>I, too, agree with momjr. We had too much sad news here, it’s time for turnaround.</p>
<p>mosb: Glad you are back and with such an inspirational story. I still have tears in my eyes.</p>
<p>ohio mom- I am so sorry. It has to be a profoundly lousy time for you. Hang in there.</p>
<p>MOSB- thanks for sharing the triumph with us. It is times like these we can see what all our hard work has helped shape (not to take anything away from your daughter herself). You have a right to be proud.</p>
<p>I think my daughter is just done. She looked at the applications for Honors Colleges or small scholarships and just said, “No”. She is disheartened that she is likely to get them based on her school’s grade deflation and unknown track record. The one Honors College she might get, and did go ahead an apply for, was one that sought her out and she requested a well known author with whom she worked to write a recommendation (and she did not want to “waste” that). She just wants to be done. So instead she spent 5+ hours on the initial part of a h.s. digital art project, for which she has had only 1 class because she transferred in last week, and the project is due Tuesday. Probably going to take 10+ more hours at least. Not sure I understand her priorities, or the teacher’s deadlines, but I give up.</p>
<p>AmandaK - Happy Chinese New Year! Same goes to all other Chinese CC friends. I like the ‘no sweeping’ rule and it might be my excuse today. My S desperately needs a haircut; so I will keep the ‘no hair cut’ rule a secret. In any case he won’t get one until next weekend.</p>
<p>ohiomom - I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope the support found here will be of comfort to you when you are ready to come back. You will be in our thoughts.</p>
<p>MOSB - That is beautiful. Never feel embarrassed to show pride in your child with tears. I do it on a regular basis…for my children and those I ‘adopt’. Songbird is an amazing young woman. I love hearing about your relationship with her.</p>
<p>OWM - Count me in for the coffee or wine. I can only imagine the conversations we’d have if we didn’t have a ‘digital audience’!</p>
<p>ohiomom-so sorry for your loss. May wonderful memories sustain you during this difficult time.</p>
<p>ohiomom - I am sorry. It does strike to the core. Take care of yourself and your family.</p>
<p>mosb - thank you for sharing that story. It shows the deep connection you have with your daughter. I wish her all the best, and like everyone am eagerly awaiting the results.</p>
<p>It also shows how hard it is sometimes to know whether you need to “pull” or to “push.” This week my D has 4 auditions; my dream is that she just has fun and enjoys herself, but I’m preparing myself for one (or more) of those kinds of “pep talks.” My D isn’t dealing with extraordinary grief like sb is, but there is a lot of fear and worry in these situations under any circumstances. I hope to be able to simply cheer her on and cheer her up, but if needed I will give her the same message you did: Push your feelings aside: this is the time to work hard and do what you came to do. Parenting isn’t just about hugs and praise - sometimes we have to do the rougher stuff, too.</p>
<p>I think D has moved from excitement to fear back to excitement! Yesterday she bought a new outfit and that always helps. I am so thankful to her mentors who are giving her wonderful encouragement and support. All I have to do is get us through the Chicago traffic Tuesday morning so she has time to warm up! Not an easy feat, but I’m ready for it.</p>
<p>D also got another EA acceptance this week - Goucher College. As I’ve said before, she has two college lists (auditioned and non-auditioned theatre programs). Goucher is an important part of her non-auditioned list - it was a great “likely” for her, and did come through with a merit scholarship. So now she has all of her most important criteria covered - she can choose among a big exciting city school (Minn), an eastern BFA (URI) and a lovely artsy LAC (Goucher). Many of the other schools on her list would give her more of these characteristics rolled into one, but really she’d go to any school she applied to. I think she’s got it solidly in her mind now that she’s “acceptable” - that’s a real triumph, and I hope it increases her confidence over the next few days.</p>
<p>mosb: your story brought tears to my eyes. thanks for sharing.
ohiomom: I am so sorry for your loss. stay strong.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I will be away for a while too. Some very serious personal distractions have come up recently. I know that when I return there will be much to celebrate. I’m rooting for all of your wonderful kids.</p>
<p>ohiomom: I am so very sorry about the loss of your father. Each time I hear of a friend dealing with the loss of a parent, I remember those tough weeks and months after the loss of each of my parents. I wish you peace. </p>
<p>college4three: take care of yourself and don’t stay away too long.</p>
<p>mosb: your story was so beautiful and moving. I’m sure I will think back to it often as I try to empathize with my daughter, and yet motivate her to push forward anyway sometimes.</p>
<p>We have a wee bit of good news! After an EA deferral, we were not expecting any news from any schools until late March. My d. got a call from a UCLA student encouraging her to apply for their merit scholarships. I know many calls were made, but I’m pretty sure only to those at the top of the applicant pool, so I’m “cautiously optimistic.” She is hoping for an acceptance from a smaller school, but at least we have an option of an excellent public university.</p>
<p>College4three: I hope things get worked out quickly. Take care.</p>
<p>50isthenew40: Congratulations on the good news from UCLA. It sounds promising.</p>
<p>Emmybet: Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptance to Goucher. My neice graduated from Goucher a few years ago and had an amazing experience there. I actually took some grad courses there many years ago. I hope your daughter’s auditions go well this week. I’ll be rooting for her.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>college4three - we’ll be thinking of you.</p>
<p>50- isn’t it a great feeling to have things keep moving? Sounds like good stuff is coming your D’s way.</p>
<p>D has gotten a couple of academic acceptances to schools where she has yet to audition; I know that they do make her feel more confident, even if they aren’t final answers.</p>
<p>D met a Goucher rep at a CTCL Fair fall of junior year, and she got such a great feeling about it. We haven’t made it to that part of the country yet, so she hasn’t seen the campus, but everything she’s read and learned since then has kept her very interested. We’ll see what other options open up between now and spring. Maybe we’ll swing through there during spring break, or maybe I’ll be sending her out for a tour in April… But I don’t want to think about that right now - too many other trips to plan!</p>
<p>Ohiomom24 - I am so so sorry for your loss. We need a bit of spring around here, this winter has been too cruel to each of us in some way. Ds and I went to church today to sit with my dad and it was awful, just sucked frankly. I used to take the kids and go every week and it made her happy but for the last few yrs, I haven’t. Going back, not seeing her in the choir loft. It just was too much. Someone here said the Dorie thing from Nemo? “keep on swimming, swimming, swimming…” I keep hearing that. Guess that is what we are supposed to do.</p>
<p>ohiomom, Sorry for your loss
mosb, wow what a story, you must be incredibly proud of your D</p>
<p>It is unusually warm today. I should be out moving some snow, but I’m cooking instead. Its warmer anyway. I think I’ve used every pot, pan & bowl in the house.</p>