Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - Original

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
16981

<p>^If you’re ever going to wear the short and tight look, it’s now – no cellulite. :)</p>

<p>D’s graduation went off without a hitch. One teary moment when they cranked up Pomp & Circumstance and the girls all paraded through the crowd in their long white gowns.
D looked beautiful. Got some nice shots with kids she’s been friends with for 13+ years.</p>

<p>Just met my brother who was in NYC area visiting schools with his son. They live in the midwest, and he said everyone does a graduation party. Must be nice – more communal and open and friendly. </p>

<p>AK – hoping the weather gods will smile on your day.</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone else who has graduation on the horizon.</p>

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<p>Happy Father’s Day to everyone! :)</p>

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^ Hahaha, momjr!</p>

<p>Arisamp ~ Yay for your the baseball championship and the placement in the all star team!</p>

<p>

^ Good for you that you complained.</p>

<p>cgpm59 ~ How nice that your DS’s roomate is another soccer player!</p>

<p>Mamom ~ Sorry about your S’s roommate being flaky.</p>

<p>Kathiep ~ Congrats on your S’s graduation!</p>

<p>Oregonianmom ~ Congrats on your D’s graduation!</p>

<p>Pepper03 ~ Congrats on Pepperson’s graduation (with the great speech)!</p>

<p>Shawbridge ~ Thanks for sharing your story…</p>

<p>2education ~ Congrats on S2’s graduation and the nice awards!</p>

<p>Congratulations to eveyone I missed!</p>

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<p>Congrats to the recent Graduates: Kinderny’s D, kathiep’s S, Classof2015’s D, and 2education’s S (and those I feel sure I missed)! Welcome to the other side!</p>

<p>Momjr, tell your D congrats on getting all those thank you notes done! Isn’t it a great feeling to have them done? :)</p>

<p>Pepper, very happy to hear that your S’s speech was a knock-out (not that I’m surprised). That’s just great for him AND for you!</p>

<p>Shawbridge, how nice that your son was able to shine so magnificently. You should be very proud, and it’s a wonderful harbinger of things to come for him! Happy Father’s Day!</p>

16984

<p>Special request for those of you who have pull with the weather gods and/or are just good at praying! Could you try to lower the grass-polllen count in northern IL?</p>

<p>Sb is having terrible allergy troubles (nothing new there…allergies plague her at the most inopportune times), and we are just 5 days out from opening night of “Oklahoma!”</p>

<p>Tech week begins tomorrow, and as many of you know first-hand, Tech is always brutal and sometimes leaves even healthy kids in less-than-optimal shape for show weekend.</p>

<p>She had complete laryngitis last Tuesday night and felt exhausted! :eek:</p>

<p>Skipped rehearsal Wed and Thu, and did total bed-rest (in our air-conditioned, air-purified house), and is on her allergy meds as well as the Neti pot (if you don’t know, google it – it’s a godsend). Also doing 3X a day salt-water gargling, which she says helps the sore throat A LOT.</p>

<p>She also had a fair amount of fatigue (which allergy can do), so on Friday, in desperation, I took her in for mono and strep tests. Both came back negative.</p>

<p>She has spoken no more than 2 dozen words in 4 days, and NO whispering (which is even harder on the voice than talking).</p>

<p>She is so frustrated! Keeps asking me (via written/typed notes) why, why, why her voice “fails her” so often right before a performance.</p>

<p>I said I think it’s because a) she performs a lot, and gets allergies a lot, so those two things are going to align a lot. And b)…I think we forget about the times (like her recent recital) when she is in fantastic voice with no allergy problems, and tend to remember the nightmarish times when she is plagued and we’re so worried about whether she’ll have her voice on performance night.</p>

<p>She IS better today than mid-week (as best we can tell…hard to know until she really tries to sing), and we’re in touch with her Director and Vocal Director. She’s asked that during Tech Week she be allowed to sing at half-power on solos and duets, and not at all during Ensemble songs. They wholeheartedly agree…they don’t want a leading lady who opens her mouth and has nothing come out any more than we do!</p>

<p>Long-term, I think I need to find her a good voice-specialist physician. Her primary-care doc is great, and so is her allergist, but I think if she plans to keep singing in a performance capacity (career or not), she needs an MD who specializes in treating singers’ voices.</p>

<p>Sorry for the rant…worried mom here. Definitely worried.</p>

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<p>mosb, I know nothing about singing, but I have post-nasal drip due to “non-specific rhinitis” (I’m allergic to stuff in the environment but they can’t identify what stuff). This sometimes turns into a cough that last for months. What I’ve noticed is that the drip is always there, but the cough comes after colds and stays, particularly in stressful periods. I’m pretty sure that stress is a contributor to transforming the drip to a chronic cough. If my experience generalizes (and it may not), it could be that your daughter has the allergies all the time but that the vocal cord situation is exacerbated in times that are stressful (e.g., leading up to big performances). If so, maybe something that is stress-reducing (like meditation or yoga) could be a major benefit. </p>

<p>Incidentally, I have a friend who is a professional singer. She said lots of singers go to chiropracters prior to performances to work on their necks. But, she had a stroke just after a session and discovered that this is a fair bit of evidence that this quite a common occurrence. So, her advice: Stay away from chiropractors above the shoulders (even if other singers do it).</p>

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<p>Congratulations to those who celebrated graduations this weekend. I love reading how different but often similiar all of our experiences were. I hope kinderny posts soon. </p>

<p>I am in the last four hours of my bachelorette experience. My husband and son should be home late this afternoon. I have cream soda and beer in the refridgerator, pretzels and chips stocked up, and surf-and-turf (salmon and steak) planned on the grill for dinner. </p>

<p>Happy Father’s Day to all the father represented here.</p>

16987

<p>So our church’s strawberry festival went fine. The weather was good but we didn’t make quite as much money as we had hoped or did in previous years.</p>

<p>Oh right, and that other thingie:</p>

<p>THANK YOU ALL</p>

<p>All of your written words here, pm’s, and just good wishes sent out into the cosmos are very much appreciated. The graduation ceremony was pretty nice, once the founding educational administrators stopped patting themselves on the back and the prinicipal and kids took center stage. Cereomony clocked in just over 90 minutes- a half an hour shorter than forecast. D’s work was acknowledged (without attribution by name) in two of three innovations/amazing accomplishments cited by the principal in his speech (founding the library and writing the student union constitution) so that was gratifying. D went without struggle and was a sight to see in her white eyelet fifties dress with crinoline and crocheted gloves. The pics did not come out great but I will post on shutterfly. I was glad she went, and there was no bitterness or recrimination once there, just pride at a hard job done well. It was actually quite touching seeing the principal overcome when talking about the trust in him we had as parents and the kids as students in choosing to go to this school. </p>

<p>On Friday night there was a private teacher/student dinner and “awards” ceremony. D went to the mandatory rehearsal that preceded it but had told her advisor she could not stay for the later event (so she could help with set-up for the church event). So her adviser/teacher of 4 years gave D her award and a gift privately. D got the “Expanding Horizons Award” for going far beyond her comfort zone in going off alone to the unknown in Rome. And D’s gift was a plant, because her adviser says D “likes so much to care of things/people”. I thought that was a very insightful assessment. One that you don’t pick up on right away because D is a tough love kind of friend/peer but as we say at our house, “No one fails on our watch”, so it was nice that some of D’s teachers noticed.</p>

<p>Tomorrow we are off to NYC for much of the week. Today was just supposed to be emptying the living room and office of furniture so the floors could be refinished. But as long as we the furniture out, H thought it would be a good time to paint too. :eek: But we are almost done and if that is how he wants to spend Father’s Day- okay.</p>

<p>Congrats to the other graduating families- kathiep, 2education, and Classof2015 and any others. Good luck to those with upcoming festivities. And prayers to the weather gods to reduce the chance of rain for AK’s S’ graduation and allergies for SB’s show. See you all on the flipside.</p>

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<p>Congrats to latest round of grads!!!</p>

<p>Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!</p>

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<p>Momjr Dad - definitely got the best gift</p>

<p>2education - welcome back and congrats to DS on his achievement. Sounds like he has a great summer planned.</p>

<p>AK - will pray for good weather for Wed. It’s rainy down here, but we need it. As long as we don’t get any Hurr___nes…I’m with you. I don’t quite understand the height of the heels, the shortness of the dresses and depth of the necklines on dresses of children. I don’t have girls so it is hard to say how I would deal with it. I know my DS feels uncomfortable around too much flesh, but he is probably just picking up on our feelings and comments.</p>

<p>OWM - hope you enjoyed your time off and you enjoy your reunion even more. Except for the laundry.</p>

<p>kinderny - you made it…you’re done…you’re happy…and YOU are moving on while THEY are staying behind. Only the best.</p>

16990

<p>Have a great week, all of you in the home stretch! I think next Monday is our last graduation. Hang in there!</p>

<p>Looking forward to our new thread on July 1. Who’s going to start it … ?</p>

16991

<p>Laundry load #5 is complete, although I think I’m going to pitch most of the socks I just washed. Not enough bleach in the world to get out the desert grime that sat in a plastic bag for five days or so.</p>

<p>My mother is having surgery today. An ENT (ear/nose/throat) specialist is attempting to remove the aggressive skin cancer near her right ear that has already “invaded” her nerves. If he can get it all, she won’t have to have radiation. It is supposed to be only a one-night hospital stay and then home with a visiting nurse coming to change her bandages every day. Appreciate your prayers and thoughts.</p>

16992

<p>Absolutely OWM-please let us know how she is doing.</p>

16993

<p>Big congrats to all those recent grads belonging to kinderny, kathiep, classof2015, Vamom, and 2eduation (and anyone else)!</p>

<p>I’m really glad kinderny d did go to graduation and that everything turned out fine, but I sure am glad she’s done with that place! Her next mission, should she choose to accept it, is to find some students at her new college who are jerks. Because my daughter informed me after orientation that some fellow students at her big state U are jerks and she certainly wouldn’t have to deal with people like that at a certain laid back east coast college…</p>

<p>But really, orientation was good for the most part. Daughter got all her first choice classes and the dorm/RAP she wanted. She even met her chemistry professor and made a good impression! There were very strong suggestions at orientation to both kids and parents, that freshmen take 12-15 credit hours their first semester. Is that normal? Daughter has 15, but one is a dance class, so I think she’ll be fine. I enjoyed reading cc on my phone while in between events at orientation – it’s like you were all there with me!</p>

<p>I’m headed off to do the “Kansas prisoner exchange” – a yearly tradition. My younger kids have been with their grandparents since the beginning of the month. Today they drive from St. Louis area to the middle of Kansas and I drive from the Denver area to the middle of Kansas where we hand off the “prisoners.” </p>

<p>My weeks of peace and quiet are over. </p>

<p>Oh and congrats also to shawson on his new enterprise, and to arisamp for the baseball championship.</p>

<p>…and I hope cooker’s house is treeless and that sb will overcome the allergies – maybe a move to the southwest is in her future?</p>

16994

<p>Hello everyone! :)</p>

<p>Classof2015 ~ Congrats on your D’s graduation!</p>

<p>kinderny ~ Congrats on your D’s graduation! It finally happened, lol!</p>

<p>OWM ~ Sending prayers for your mother’s surgery…</p>

<p>snoozn ~ Glad to hear your D’s orientation and selections are going so well!</p>

<p>There is hope at the horizon: DS is having his graduation rehearsal today. ;)</p>

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<p>snoozn - You have hit a big nail on the head about why sticking together next year will be so helpful! We will all help each other with the reality checks of “was this the right choice?” or “I’m the only one who feels this way” (parents AND kids). It’s so hard because you can only go to one school - and so the perpetual “what ifs” can really haunt you. Having all of these wonderful peers who can show us the other sides of the experience will really be helpful.</p>

<p>I’m so excited for D’s orientation, but I do know that she’s going to see some ugly undersides along with all of the wonderful stuff. Adelphi has 2 sessions, and she is in 2 very small programs that have more out-of-town students who are unlikely to attend, so we’ve already talked about how “her” people are likely to be few and far between at this particular event, and not to assume anything from that. Luckily the Honors College has a special meeting, and she’ll get to talk to a prof/adviser in the Theatre Dept while she’s there. Otherwise she’ll try to be calm and non-judgmental (yeah, right) about whom she meets, what she sees, and what she finds out. We don’t assume that the “general” students will be disappointing, but since her specific parts of the school won’t be much of the focus for orientation, she’s prepared if it doesn’t quite feel like “her” place this time. Hopefully at the very least she’ll find it amusing …</p>

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<p>Congrats to our latest grads and parents - Kinderny, Kathiep, Classof2015, Vamom, and
2eduation!</p>

<p>Kinder: I’m glad to hear that graduation was much better than expected.</p>

<p>Snoozn: Congrats on a successful orientation and course selection for your D. I hope the prisioner exchange went off without a hitch.</p>

<p>MOSB: I hope that Songbird is feeling better and her voice returns in time for the show. I have a feeling that it will.</p>

<p>OWM: I hope that your Mom’s surgery goes well.</p>

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<p>snoozn, ShawSon’s freshman year advisor (the Dean of Freshman at his LAC) suggested that he take an easier schedule than the one he’d planned for first semester. They only take four courses there but had him drop back one semester in math (he had taken a gap year) and take a drawing class (ShawSon is good at art) instead of another class. He said he wanted ShawSon to know what it took to be successful at said LAC. ShawSon has his own particular challenges (extremely bright but severely dyslexic) and this may have made even more sense for him, but I think is good advice for all kids. There is so much else they have to do (make new friends, get comfortable with a new life, find out where to do the laundry, build exercise into new life, etc.) that taking it a little easier academically seems like a good idea for the first semester.</p>

<p>In your case, with your D going to school close to home, she may have less to adjust to, but the remaining adjustment will still be significant. My advice to her, if she needs any on how to avoid jerks, is to meet people in activities (like dance which she does, yoga, social service, environmental causes, …) which will tend not to have the jerks.</p>

<p>Oh, and you recouped your kids. Which prisoners did you exchange for them?</p>

16998

<p>Kinder, Hooray!!! I’m thrilled the graduation turned out lovely. Looking forward to seeing the pictures. </p>

<p>Now that you are on the other side lets do lunch soon. </p>

<p>Congrats to all the other weekend graduates. </p>

<p>My sister asked my parents to dog sit July 2nd-10th so instead of flying back to Florida this week they are back at my house, again. Sigh.</p>

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<p>Yes, my d’s neuropsych strong recommendation was 12 credits maximum. She may end up with 13 but that would be if she wanted to join choir which she finds a wonderful activity and not really work. </p>

<p>D is going to orientation by herself too since I need to be here and deal with moving issues and also take the younger to a dive meet. I already prepared by getting her a linked AMEX card so that if the kind of thing that happened with United Airlines happens with Southwest which she is flying, or their are storms, or there is a terrorist threat or whatever, she has the ability to get a hotel room and get some food. As I told her, she doesn’t have an unlimited card=but there is enough for the hotel room, food, and a domestic flight (if she needed to get home and the airlines weren’t accomodating). </p>

<p>Saw my doctor today and he is starting to step me down from prednisone. Which is really good since I am barely sleeping- most nights about four hours. Unfortunately, my INR (blood clotting factor) went from too high on Friday (so I was told to take another coumadin pill) to now way too high. I promised everyone I am staying away from sharp objects and am walking very carefully so I don’t slip. I am also skipping coumadin for two days. Now I am waiting to hear what the xray showed. My doctor thinks the lung will probably be fully inflated but we will see. NOw I am off to swim meet.</p>

<p>Congrats to all the remaining graduates. Over here, the public schools are having their last day tomorrow. In Alabama where we are moving, the schools restart on Aug. 5th. Normally it wouldn’t make much difference for us with my kids being homeschooled but since she may be taking community classes, they go by that same schedule.</p>

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<p>OWM - hugs and prayers flying to your mom</p>

<p>mm - feel better soon. FYI - each Amex card can have its credit limit adjusted as often as you want so you can keep daughter’s low unless she is traveling or an emergency arises. Changes can be made online.</p>