<p>Sending my very best wishes to this weekends graduates. I think OWM has the weather covered. 
I hope it is full of wonderful memories for everyone!! </p>
<p>Bluejr turned 18 today. I just keep tearing up. I got to be this kids mom…me. Of all people it was me who was entrusted with this child to raise. It’s been an unbelievable joy. What a gift… here come the tears again.</p>
<p>Partnering up with OWM to arrange for sunny skies for proudmomof2 in Columbus OH, also in Missypie’s part of TX and wherever else our 2011 kids are graduating this weekend. Wishing all of you, your kids, and extended families a wonderful Graduation weekend.</p>
<p>Arisamp, congrats to your D on scholar-athlete of the year! Wonderful accomplishment, and you must be very proud of her. Also glad to hear she had fun at prom.</p>
<p>HAPPY BIRTHDAY to bluejr!</p>
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<p>Right there with you, blue. That’s exactly how I feel, only you said it so perfectly! Happy “birth-day” to you, too!</p>
<p>Happy birthday to bluejr! Welcome to adulthood. </p>
<p>congrats to the new graduates and those soon to be.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday BlueJr</p>
<p>Congrats and best wishes for clear skies for this weekend’s proms and graduations</p>
<p>I guess it is as nature intended - they eventually push your buttons so hard you are almost relieved they are leaving for college… DD on the original last day of school (In Tx they added a day for a non snow snow day!) they went to a friends house to party which we were aware of however discovered she was not where she said she was spending the night, was given the opportunity to amend her ‘tale’, hesitated then lied again and was duly relieved of car and phone, grounded till we leave on vacation, went to school for supposedly 3 hours but discovered she had detention for skipping class until 6 pm in order for her to graduate on Sunday!
I can’t begin to tell you how out of character this is but a certain young man came on the scene recently and this appears to be the result…struggling mightily here people!
Need her to get her head straight and go to college, I am hoping it’s just a bump in what has been a very straight flat road until now…
Her friends also called expressing love and concern so at least we are all on the same page…now if only we could get her on board. Together we can I believe.
Graduation party tonight and graduation tomorrow…</p>
<p>happy64…oh no, or should I say “oh boy”…:)<br>
Hopefully this will be a tiny speed bump on the road for her. It is amazing how important the friends/boyfriends/girlfriends are as to what choices our kids make!</p>
<p>Sending strength and wisdom happy64. Stay strong!! These young relationships that don’t always bring out the best in our kids can be very trying. It can be like watching a train wreck…if you’re like me it’s especially painfully having been in a few train wrecks of my own! We want to protect our kids and sometimes the best we can do is patch 'em up.</p>
<p>happy 64 - as holliesue said, “oh boy”. I remember what I was up to at my S’s age, and he has some catching up to do. -) I think it would be unusual for kids to not try and push the envelope. Hope the graduation party went well.</p>
<p>happy64 if it makes you feel any better know you are not alone with this behavior. I am so sorry this is going on but I so understand your distress-my son has had a few episodes that are completely out of character for him the last few months-but my friends tell me “this too shall pass”.</p>
<p>Hang in there. You have company.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to Blujr! </p>
<p>Emmybet: I hope the graduation goes well for your D and Japanese D.</p>
<p>Happy64: I’ve been there also. Teenagers like to live in the moment and test the limits. I’m sorry that you’ve having these issues right before graduation. Hang in there, and feel free to come here to vent.</p>
<p>Having sent one to college already I say to all of my friends with HS seniors and rising seniors: Let them make these mistakes now, and be glad they are here with you to make them where you can help them learn -and deal with anything really troublesome. So soon they’ll be making these kinds of choices, every day, on their own. It still stinks, but it’s inevitable.</p>
<p>H managed to squeeze in a trip to Bass Pro Shop and breakfast with his brother in with his 6 hour round trip to pick up his mother and disabled sister. Our nephew has graduated to “saint” status because he’s making the trip Monday to bring them home. My car now contains 2 wheelchairs and a walker - I’m ready. Bring on the geezers (as my parents affectionately call themselves)!</p>
<p>On the serious side, I’m realizing this will probably be the last time any of them makes the trip to our house, since D2’s college graduation will be out east. My parents have to fly to visit us, and really there’s no reason for it now that kids won’t have events, and the drive is rough on H’s mom, too. So there’s a lot of bittersweet this weekend.</p>
<p>Japanese D is at the SAT - her mom was told it would be a good opportunity for her to take it. Well … I’m not going to argue, but I’ll just say it will be nice when it’s over. I told JD just to answer whatever she knew and skip the rest (go back if she has time, of course, but she’s kind of a slow tester). I’m cheering inside that I am done with those kinds of tests.</p>
<p>The weather is nice here today, supposed to be maybe even nicer tomorrow. Starting to feel the moment! I arranged D2’s awards, newspaper clippings, etc. for grandparents to look at, and D1’s diploma and certificates in a separate display. It does feel special. D’s interview in the school newspaper (“Artist of the Month”) quotes her as saying, “I just want to be happy with the person I become.” Yup, that about says it all.</p>
<p>Oh emmy, it certainly is a bittersweet time on so many levels. I hope the weather is great and you can handle all those logistics-I feel guilty for feeling bad I have three walkers and a cane-piece of cake compared to you…</p>
<p>Love that quote from your daughter-yes, “Happiness is an inside job”! Sounds like she gets it!</p>
<p>emmybet-ENJOY this weekend!!
And I love your D’s quote!!!</p>
<p>Thank you … I am starting to enjoy the weekend. Ds are out shopping and will pick JD after her test. All I have are the airport runs, and I am happy to see my folks. H is grilling for everyone tonight, hurray.</p>
<p>Pepper, we can compare notes on how the equipment combos fare. I’m happy with the wheelchairs, since we have a couple of strong guys to push them (and after the Tufts hill, the HS football field will be a piece of cake). At least when you’re pushing a wheelchair you’re in charge and the senior sitting in it is completely safe!</p>
<p>Knowing my D, I hear the doubt in her voice in that quote … but I’m glad she has at least a vision of herself happy. That’s all I ask for my kids - to be looking ahead and feel that good things are possible.</p>
<p>Happy b’day bluejr! Emmy - have fun this weekend.
Best wishes to all of you graduating and hosting parties and family this weekend.
D graduated last night. It was great, but looooong given the size of the class. The overnight party was overstaffed so I spent too much time wandering (away from D as much as possible) with two other moms thinking how half of us could have been sleeping! Most of the kids were lovely and appreciative, but I must say that more than a few were entitled, rude, disrespectful snots! They all got $10 handed to them as they left the buses. I think the price of the ticket should have been $10 lower, but maybe that is just me on too little sleep…
D is juggling the grad party circuit this weekend. She has her “team friends” and her “academic friends.” The groups are both filled with lovely people, but they don’t mingle easily for whatever reason. D wishes she could be with them all together!<br>
Long range forecast for next week’s open house is iffy. Tomorrow we will be getting garage cleaned out in case we need to utilize that space. Whoever is the weather ninja here, please get some clear skies for June 11th in Minneapolis!<br>
Could today be the day I figure out Shutterfly? I’m going to try.</p>
<p>Checking in quickly because we are busy, busy here- although not graduation related as that is STILL 2 weeks off. D just found out her last day of school is next Friday- they are giving the seniors the following Mon and Tues off- not sure why. Of course they are saying that the last Student Learning Team meeting (student, adviser, parent, peer and community member) is supposed to be taking place those two days. Hmm- do you think the school could have waited any longer to tell us? No way are we going to get everyone together on a week’s notice. D also learned they are scheduling two mandatory grad practices, not during school hours and in conflict with her long time volunteer activity at church. We already told her she had to go to graduation, but these last minute adds are stretching tension to the breaking point. She just wants to be done. H thinks she will regret if she does not go to the ceremony. I actually don’t think she will as she it not very sentimental. Ugh to the whole thing.</p>
<p>As for D’s quote- we chose two for her graduation announcement (which actually doesn’t mention h.s. at all just where she is going to college in the fall).<br>
The first:
Life isn’t about finding yourself,
Life is about creating yourself.
~George Bernard Shaw</p>
<p>The second one is based on a quote from St. Catherine of Siena, but D changes it a bit:
Be who God meant me to be, and I can set the world on fire? (She adds the question mark and then an evil laugh.)</p>
<p>WOW, I’ve now caught up on the last 2 million, 3 hundred thousand and twenty-six pages! [Or maybe it just seemed like that many…] Tons of congrats to go around, not only on graduation, but also performances, games, recitals and that little-known venue, what do they call it? Oh, right, Carnegie Hall! And a couple of teachers requiring repeated application of frying pan to head, sigh…</p>
<p>As you can guess, I’ve been incredibly busy over the past couple of weeks, but everything is finished now. We had tons of family – my parents, my in-laws, my sister, husband’s sister and her family of four. Everyone got along great!</p>
<p>Graduation was wonderful. My daughter did a belly-dance that took up the whole first paragraph in our local paper’s grad coverage (plus photos on-line). Her school doesn’t have any awards, valedictorians, etc. They do a “tapestry” where any student can sign up to do whatever they want and all ten who signed up (from a class of 65) were approved this year. Pictures up on shutterfly and a link posted there to the the video (it’s under three minutes – really!) Her favorite teacher was one of the emcee’s, along with the school janitor (kids vote every year on who emcees!) Both gave nice speeches. The school principal gave the tear-jerker – he and his wife had their first baby this year and he went from humor (“In this town, there’s a space on the birth certificate to include your child’s ‘animal spirit’”) to poignancy (“Every baby born changes the world”). </p>
<p>The grad party went off pretty well too, though in hindsight there were some things we could have done better. All I can say is it’s paid for and it’s over!</p>
<p>Family also had several opportunities to see the grad dancing. A local festival was going on the same weekend and she had performances with her belly dance troupe and her modern dance company.</p>
<p>Memorial Day was great as well. We have a citizen’s 10k race here every year and this year there were over 50,000 racers, including my family of five and several of our extended family – even my 79 year old Dad! It’s almost like a moving street festival, with live music and entertainment, dancers, racers in crazy costumes. Also a wonderful Memorial Day celebration after the professional race (which follows the citizen’s race). Fighter jet flyover, parachutists come into the stadium representing each military branch and honoring veterans – this hippy-dippy burg can be as patriotic as any red state town!</p>
<p>So that was our grad weekend. I hope all the ones going on this weekend will be great! But even if they aren’t at least you’re DONE!</p>
<p>Happy and Pepper - I am right there with you. We almost made it through all 4 years without an issue. I too am dealing with similar issues during this week of school. I am very annoyed by the situation. Did I say I am annoyed? :)</p>
<p>Graduation is on Monday and I too </p>
<p>
[quote]
…keep rotating through the various feelings: sadness, excitement, disbelief, relief, a little leftover anger, and pride…{/quote] .</p>
<p>I think it could be a very loonngg summer.</p>
<p>To those whose kids are testing them more than usual - hang in there. Think of what they are going through. This time last year they were still figuring out their “list”.</p>
<p>To those wheelchair users out there - I HIGHLY recommend a lightweight wheelchair for travel. Our is 14 lb. It has 4 small wheels so someone has to push. The legs come off and the arms fold down. Easily fits in small spaces and easy for weakling to get out of a trunk. I also recommend a gel pad for comfort and to avoid pressure sores which literally can be deadly. We keep this wheelchair in our car and a standard 50 lb clunker in the house.</p>
<p>I am here enjoying the quiet while my son is at the prom. My husband is at a friends house enjoying a beer and the nice weather on their deck. I begged off so I could come home and make cookies. We have to events tomorrow and I signed up for cookies for both.</p>
<p>uh-oh. Left post to make batter. Looks like we don’t have enough butter. Brownies it is! Posted some pics on the shutterfly site of son’s pre-prom pictures. It turned into quite the photo shoot. At first the boys were kind of reluctant at all the picture taking but after awhile they got into it too and were suggesting different poses. It was quite fun!</p>