<p>No news is good news I guess or everyone is recovering from Super Bowl fever.</p>
<p>D1 called today. Since her terms are only 7 weeks, she has at least 2 quizzes or test a week. She reported that today was a ‘good grade day’. </p>
<p>On Wednesday, she has an appointment to Skype someone from Spain for an assignment for her Spanish class. She said that there is a website that matches people from around the world who are fluent in one language and want to learn another language. She put in her information, and was given some choices. The match is an engineer from Spain who wants to be more fluent in English. It sounds like such a cool idea. I love modern technology.</p>
<p>A friend of mine was interviewing a HS junior for a leadership position in our volunteer organization. The girl mentioned that she was really interested in attending D1’s school, but was concerned about the low number of girls who attend. My friend asked if D1 would be willing to talk to the girl. The girls arranged that they will meet at campus on Wednesday and D1 can take her around and talk to her about what she likes about the school.</p>
<p>Rescued from page 2 again. :)</p>
<p>Eek, S2 received a letter from the IRS asking why he didn’t file taxes for 2010 as he made $71,000. The decimal point is off by 2. I found out he should have filed for the $710 that he made as a referee. The limit is $400 for non-employee income. Ridiculous on both counts. Hopefully it won’t be too big of a deal to get fixed.
Mini-reunion was fun. Had a lot of laughs. Y’all were right, it was much better to get an “I love you” and “I forgot how much fun you are” then a “you look great”. It lasted for hours. Spent a long time with a gf that I hadn’t seen in 25 years who is just back from a third stint in rehab. Hopefully it will stick this time. Life is short.
One of my friends reminded me why they didn’t have overseas trips for 5 years after we graduated. Something about us leaving Germany to get pizza in Italy or something. Now I know why I wouldn’t send S2 to Spain summer of JR year. Everyone got in trouble and there were suspensions & weeks of lost privileges. I know a lot of hs’s do it with no issues.
Can it only be Tues?</p>
<p>[Today’s</a> Internships Are a Racket, Not an Opportunity - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/02/04/do-unpaid-internships-exploit-college-students/todays-internships-are-a-racket-not-an-opportunity]Today’s”>Today's Internships Are a Racket, Not an Opportunity - NYTimes.com) Interesting discussion</p>
<p>Idinct - sounds like you had so much fun! Oh, and that HS trip must have been a blast. haha.</p>
<p>A couple pages back, EmmyBet gave some great advice for talking to daughters. Just wanted to acknowledge that…</p>
<p>I am looking forward to reading the link above about internships.</p>
<p>Happy day, all.</p>
<p>Is it different with sons? 
I have used that kind of communication style in my work, which included many years with teenage boys. I do like to give kids the message that ultimately I have faith that they will work out problems on their own. But I fail miserably, often. Last year really got to me, and I know D felt way too often that I didn’t believe in her. I’ve had to be “not so nice” at times this year, too - when she gets too stuck and I have to say I can’t talk to her until we can have some possibility of hope, not just a broken record of complaints. I think she knows that when I say “Gee, I hope tomorrow is a better day” that she’s painted our conversation into a corner - also I think (hope) she realizes that all I want is to wish her well, not to judge or fix her. I’m sad sometimes that this takes so much effort on my part! Argh.</p>
<p>^ Conversations with sons are more fact-based, I think. Less emotion, more ‘how do I get from point A to point B’ stuff. At least, that’s how it’s been in my experience. </p>
<p>Be assured, I fail miserably…daily.</p>
<p>H did call D on Sunday (with me nearby). I could hear her respond.</p>
<p>H: Are you taking your iron?
D: yep.
H: You should get the breathing thing checked out. Maybe see a pulmonologist?
D: K. Got to go.</p>
<p>She called me yesterday. Saw the dr; has appt with pulmonologist. It was maybe a 15 second call, which is fine. I think this is her new method of communicating. Update parents in 7 words or less. I think it’s a form of haiku…</p>
<p>In our family we call it telling parents only items on a need to know basis. They obviously don’t think we NEED to know much. I admit to doing the same to my parents…</p>
<p>Big weekend plans for my husband and me. I’m going to Colorado to visit my in-laws with my SIL’s and my husband is going to Vermont for a family ski weekend with our son. Champlain is hosting a family ski outing with discounted lift tickets and hotel rooms. My husband loves to ski and our son hasn’t tried it, but is willing to give it a go. I’m hoping it will be fun for all.</p>
<p>One of our daughters tells us everything about academics…nada about social life…</p>
<p>The other one tells us everything about her social life but very little ( if anything) about academics…</p>
<p>If you put them together, we would have great communication with our kids!!</p>
<p>Dear D, please take care.
Your lungs are my heart, you see.
Now take your dang meds!!</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>cgpm -sheer awesomeness!</p>
<p>That seems to be the mode of operation. Talk ten seconds and I got to go do something to get off the phone.</p>
<p>cgpm59 – I love it! :)</p>
<p>cgpm - that was perfect!</p>
<p>My D’s are both very good about calling. We hear from them about every other day. They usually call when they’re walking. We get updates on academic and social stuff, but I think that the social part is watered down, which is fine with me.</p>
<p>D2 said that Boston was like a tomb yesterday. Sorry to anyone mourning the Pats loss. That’s how we felt around here after the AFC championship game.</p>
<p>CGPM - the official poet of the Awesome Parents of the College Class of 2015 and Beyond!</p>
<p>My two DDs sound a lot like Rodney’s. One tells all about academics but I have to ask specific questions about her BF, roommates, etc. The other will tell me more than I even want to know about her social life (and that of all of her friends) but I have to pry the grades and other stuff out of her. The one thing they have in common is that, like Momjr’s D’s, both of mine tend to call me when they are walking across campus.</p>
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<p>LOL. That is exactly when my S calls me. </p>
<p>Kathie - I hope everyone in your family has a great weekend.</p>
<p>my D never, ever, ever calls unless it is an earthshattering emergency, like when her computer crashed. That may have been the only time she has called me since she went to school last August.</p>
<p>She did just send me an email the other day. That rarely happens, but it was longer than a text or two could be, so was probably easier.</p>
<p>Sometimes I go a week or ten days between texts and sometimes there are five or ten in a day, depending on what is going on.</p>
<p>I think I like a daughter that does not deal in drama. It’d be OK, though, if I didn’t have to check FB just to see if she was alive.</p>