<p>VAMom- It just occured to me that perhaps it was stolen after your S got off the train. Usually, (and I do have some experience with this as the victim) the thief will search the bag for anything worthwhile then dump the bag somewhere else. If you haven’t already, it may be worth calling every station up to Boston to see if they found it. Of course if they dumped the bag in the trash it is gone. </p>
<p>HH- hope things get settled on the parent front.</p>
<p>Hurray for the good news of our fine Captain re his wife (thank god we are not on the ship again this spring).</p>
<p>Sorry for your troubles HH- it is tough providing the support the parents need I know.</p>
<p>As for communication from our college kids, H called me yesterday saying that D would likely use half of this month’s minutes calling me on my work phone and would I please just call her back on the cell phone (which is free)? I will try- I just don’t like cell phones because of the lack of clarity, plus I don’t want to put her off as sometimes she just has a minute or two to talk which would be wasted while my phone boots up. I don’t want to leave the phone on all the time because I would never remember to charge it… Ah well, first world problems.</p>
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<p>I was the same way til about 2 years ago. Now I carry a charger in my car and charge my phone at home every night. It took a while for me to remember to grab my phone on my way out the door, but it is part of my routine now. I upgraded to a smartphone so I can check my personal email, surf the web, etc at work without using work laptop. I have found now that folks know I will always be available on my cell my kids text me more often, and folks hardly ever call me on my home phone. I use bluetooth in the car and love the convenience of it. Best of all my kids can always reach me.</p>
<p>So happy to hear about AvonMom! :)</p>
<p>VAMom: So sorry to hear that the bag hasn’t been located. Yes, he’ll learn a lesson from this, but so annoying that it’s missing.</p>
<p>HH: I, too, am part of the sandwich generation. It is very, very stressful. Try to take good care of yourself. (Easier said than done!)</p>
<p>Communication? One of my sons calls at random times when walking across campus, after a stop at the mail boxes, etc. He usually has only a few minutes to talk – off to class, lunch, etc – but I enjoy those snippets. S2 prefers to text…I think because he knows that I’m not very good at it and will tire of it quickly. We do ask him to call every weekend so that we can catch up. He’s pretty good about it, though at times he has texted to let us know that he’s busy and will call on Monday. Not much skyping here.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the kind works regarding the good news for AvonMom. The past few months have been quite stressful with a few ups and downs along the way. This last piece of good news has eased our fears and was the best news we could have received. Even if you have been touched in some way in the past, the impact of any type of cancer diagnosis hits home fairly hard. I am just glad that the ability to detect and treat is so much better today than it was just ten or twenty years ago. :)</p>
<p>Regarding communications with DS, he will generally text every few days if he has something to ask or report. He will also generally call about once per week or so on a Friday afternoon or a Sunday evening. We have Skype setup but he hasn’t used it yet but he does call enough to keep us updated. He has also been calling for updates on AvonMom’s health situation. We hear more about school and sports than any social activities. His last two calls were about summer options and a possible major/minor combination. Overall, he does stay in touch enough to keep the parents reasonably up to date and comfortable. If he maintains this level of contact we will be OK with it. :)</p>
<p>MNmom, hope D gets the sorority she wants, fingers crossed!</p>
<p>VAmom2015, my son got his messenger bag stolen yesterday in Boston while sitting at a Starbucks, luckily his computer, and wallet and phone were not in it but his glasses were and its still hard to have something missing or stolen. Hope your sons is just lost but it might be a good idea for him to check with police to see what they do when they find stuff like bags laying around. Police told my son they were probably looking for a laptop and threw the bag out when they didn’t find one. (Although it was a nice leather Fossil i.e expensive one! UGH)</p>
<p>Highhead, My D only gets emotional with me and I find myself hesitating to answer the phone as well. Sorry about the sandwich situation, can’t imagine how stressful that is. My FIL left this morning and I feel so much better but as he was walking out the door he said I will see you in April…WHAT!</p>
<p>EAO1227 - so sorry to hear about your son’s messenger bag being stolen. Regardless of its value, it is a violation, an insult. Hope he has backup glasses or can get them replaced quickly. Financially it was a relatively inexpensive lesson that hopefully will have him much more in the future.</p>
<p>taking a few quick moments here to try to see how everyone has been-=only can look at a couple pages but looks like good health news AvonMom–yay for that!</p>
<p>D1 doing fairly well beginning 2nd semester Univ of Puget Sound–suffered a bit of 2nd semester blues/homesickness but settled in once the new routine got going. She persevered at the end of last semester in attempting to change her workstudy job and has a much more appropriate one now with a better boss.</p>
<p>Good luck as February moves on to all of you and your kids…</p>
<p>EAO–sorry to hear of the bag theft. Thank goodness they didn’t get the computer or his wallet!</p>
<p>HH–sandwich gen is difficult. So hard for parents to let go of independence and even harder for them to allow their kids to reverse rolls and take care of the parents.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the suggestions on the great bag hunt. I’ve told him to call the Amtrak police and tell them the situation and ask where bags would be turned in if found. I also told him to ask if he should file a stolen bag report. That might at least get another avenue for the possibility of getting it back, although I’m guessing he’ll never see it again.</p>
<p>saving us from page 2! I have to leave for work at 5 am central and will be gone for 12+ hours, and won’t be able to follow you all today, so Good Morning! and I hope you all have a great Friday!</p>
<p>bajamm, impressed that at 4:40 your time, you were rescuing us! Hope you have a great Friday, don’t work to hard!</p>
<p>EA - Sorry your S’s bag got stolen. Over the years, mostly when I was younger, I had my bag stolen 3X in Boston, one time in a coffee shop near BU with the bag between my legs on the floor. The thief crawled on the floor and just took it without my knowing. Someone at a neighboring table told me as the guy was running out the door. Unfortunately it happens. Glad he didn’t lose anything too valuable and hope he has a spare pair of glasses.</p>
<p>collegemaw - glad your D is off to a good start and has a better W/S job. Take it from me, nothing worse than having a crappy boss. </p>
<p>Went to see the Adams Family last night in Boston with 12yo D, some of her friends and a couple other Mom’s. I would not have choosen buy tickets to this, but the Mom who organized it saw it on Broadway and thought it would be fun to go see it together in Boston. I can only hope the Broadway show was much, much better than the Boston one. But, it was fun getting together with the other Mom’s. 12yo D has her bday sleepover this weekend. Bday was last weekend but she had 3 basketball games and we couldn’t fit the party in. Not really looking forward to entertaining a bunch of 11 and 12yo’s for a day and a half, but it is going happen. I imagine H will find something outside the house to keep him busy, lucky man. :)</p>
<p>Sorry about stolen bags and taking care of aging parents. </p>
<p>bajamm- yuck about getting up so early!</p>
<p>mamom- Too bad about the Addams Family. I bought tickets for D1 for Christmas to see it. She was supposed to go this coming Sunday, but has a conflict, so D2 and H are going. I hope that they enjoy the show. Invest in nosie cancelling headphones or earplugs for the sleepover.</p>
<p>GSmomma - not sure where you are going to see it, but hopefully your D2 and H like it better than I did. My D thought one of the young men in the show was a hunk. haha. That alone made it worthwhile for her.</p>
<p>D got into her first choice sorority! Hooray, I think. Sororities were not part of my college experience, so I don’t “get it,” but she is happy and feeling valued, so I am happy for her. </p>
<p>Sadly, her roommate/dear friend did not get into either of her top two choices, so D feels very torn. It’s hard for her to celebrate when her roommate is so sad. D will be sensitive to roommate’s feelings and roommate is a fabulous kid with a lot going on, so I hope all will be better in a few days.</p>
<p>Bummer about the bags.</p>
<p>mamon - good luck with the sleepover! </p>
<p>Happy weekend to all.</p>
<p>mamom- They are also going to see it in Bostn.</p>
<p>mnmomof 2- Congrats to your D. My D had the opposite issue-neither of her roomies could understand why she wanted to join, so they did not care at all.</p>
<p>Really feeling for the kids with lost/stolen bags. That feels so rotten - at this age, their bag is kind of their life. So glad computers didn’t get stolen. My D is learning to manage going into NYC on her own; I think this weekend she will be returning late for the first time alone. I know she will be in safe, populated areas, and she takes virtually nothing with her. She keeps her phone someplace safe, on the inside of her coat, or at least she says she does!</p>
<p>I keep remembering a year ago … it’s so amazing hearing about the highs and lows of Greek adventures, the excitement and worries about college sports, planning for this summer with a year of college under their belts (1/4 of the way through!).</p>
<p>Glad to take this journey with you all.</p>
<p>mnmom- Yay, glad it worked out for your D</p>
<p>mamam- sleepover should be called something else as they never get enough sleep. My youngest D really dislikes sleepovers, will go but wants to be picked up around midnight as she wants to sleep in her own bed and not be tired the next day. Sensible girl!</p>
<p>Emmybet, son said to me after bag was taken “I now know what you mean mom when you say you feel physically sick when something bad happens, I felt physically sick”. And no he has no extra glasses he does wear contacts but they give him a headache if he wears them too long! </p>
<p>Having a Foreign Exchange student come stay with us for 2 weeks, she and 10 other students are coming for a short exchange. Should be fun but need to go clean my house, sheets etc. Father in law out, foreign exchange student in…one day I will have it all to myself and then I will be wishing it was like it used to be! (At least that is what I am telling myself today!) Have a good weekend. Looks like we may finally get a bit of snow, only 1-2 inches forecast for tonite but our area may only get freezing rain! What a crazy winter!</p>
<p>Thanks all.</p>
<p>EAO - we call those “sleepunders!” I am a big proponent. I veto all sleepovers unless it is a good friend birthday or something truly special (like a team bonding activity). </p>
<p>Sleepover almost always meant a lost day following and a super grumpy kid at my house.</p>
<p>Emmy: what a difference a year makes!</p>