<p>Just got back from dropping DS back to school. He’s been very chatty the last couple days and it’s been a delight. I wasn’t sad to leave him since I will see him on
Friday (the HS fencing team he is coaching needs him to take half the team to one tournament, while the coach takes the rest to another on Saturday). I was sad to leave so much money at the bookstore. $750! And 2/3rds of the books were used!</p>
<p>So has anyone else’s kids brought up Spring Break plans yet? My D is going with some sorority sisters to one of the girls parents beach condo. We felt ok with this, was surprised when a good friend of mine said her D was flying to Mexico for spring break. Have to wonder if that is safe these days??/</p>
<p>Book prices are outrageous! And I want to warn anyone who buys from Amazon. Make sure you search around on their site for the lowest price because apparently differently vendors charge different amounts for the same new book!</p>
<p>Before S went back, we bought his Physics book. The price new ranged from $72 to $142. So check the entire list before you buy. </p>
<p>The bookstore prices seem always higher.</p>
<p>My guy is going to Haiti over spring break with a group from college. We just talked with him this afternoon. He’s getting busier - reconnecting with the chess club, adding more work hours, starting research, looking into summer opportunities, and probably more I’m not remembering. I hope he can keep it all up with grades since he still wants pre-med.</p>
<p>Oldest will likely stay with his fiance’s family.</p>
<p>
Most kids go to Cancun. They have some very nice all inclusive resorts. It is pretty safe. D2 went there for her high school senior trip last year. We were at a nearby hotel. It was fairly harmless. I would suggest for her D to stay at the resort, be careful with water and food outside of the resort. </p>
<p>I was surprised with D2’s book costs. She only spent ~$300. I think she is renting some books and buying used.</p>
<p>D to the airport and in the air, on the way to sunnier places. Sad to see her go, thankful for the long break. We’ll see how Rush goes; she’s nervous. </p>
<p>Congrats to Oldfort; is the house where your D2 ended up the one she wanted? </p>
<p>Spring Break-- my D has no choice. She’s going to Hawaii with us. If she ever wanted to go somewhere with friends she’d first have to get a job, lol!</p>
<p>jaylynn - yes, it was her #1 pick and it was also the #1 pick for a lot of other girls. It was hard not to have it as her first choice after hearing so much about it from her older sister. At the same time, D2 did go in with an open mind. There was one house she thought she liked a lot, but she was cut pretty early on because they found out she was a legacy at another house. As the week went by, she became more certain it was the house for her. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages of being a younger sibling. I hope this experience will bring both of them even closer.</p>
<p>I just got back from Cancun. If she has transportation arranged ahead of time from the airport (Tourex is what we used thrniugh JetBlue), that is good. If she stays on the site of her hotel, that also limits risk, and many of those all-inclusives have great things planned on their site. She should know to bring many singles, because even though food and drinks are included, you get much friendlier and faster service if you tip now and then. </p>
<p>And yes, only use bottled water for teeth brushing and drinking. My S spent one vacation day at the end of our week hidden in his room because he got careless with water getting in his mouth, but the rest of us were fine the whole time, and I ate tons of salad and fruit.</p>
<p>Lastly, if you can have her double check reviews on tripadvisor before she books, she can balance what appears to be a great deal price-wise with safety and cleanliness.</p>
<p>Jaylynn, even though we paid for our Cancun trip for our two college kids, and they enjoyed it, they agree that they can’t afford such a trip on their own dime. They know without us saying that we are not going to pay for their spring break trips. I will, however, cover costs for an interview suit or the taxi to get to the interview. :)</p>
<p>Oooh-- that’s a good plan, Snowflake! I must adopt it. My kids have been too spoiled. They’re in for a rude awakening someday. [old lady voice] In my day, we worked crappy jobs, from detassling corn (any midwesterners out there who did that?) at 14 to serving softserve at the ol’ Dairy Queen. I’m hoping my kids work some junky jobs before they get to interview for a job in a suit, lol!</p>
<p>^my D spent last summer picking up golf balls on the driving range. I think that qualifies as a junky job.</p>
<p>Jaylynn, I detassled, walked bean for weeds and mowed lawns starting at 14. Poor DS has it al little easier, but her still has to either find a good paid internship or he will be back at his summer job, painting chainlink fences, mowing lawns and laying mulch for 40 hours a week. It could be worse.</p>
<p>Jackief & Oldfort–sorry I missed your posts earlier and failed to respond.</p>
<p>Jackie–I don’t know if the newspaper is still printed, but I am guessing it is as the web version lists ‘front page’. I saw the physical paper when I was up there in August but I don’t know if it was just a back-to-school issue. </p>
<p>Oldfort–good to hear that rush is now one week. It was two weeks in my day and in hindsight, I wonder how we survived the second week once classes had resumed. Very long days for those already in the house. Have they done away the theme costumes? That was stressful! And, yes, much anxiety and you do tax your cocktail party conversation skills, but it was fun.</p>
<p>Oldfort – I didn’t mean any disrespect to Cornell or the Greek system anywhere. It’s great that Cornell offers rush as a separate week before non-rushing kids arrive on campus. </p>
<p>All I meant was that my drama-averse D1 would’ve been distressed to see her friends or suitemates or classmates or acquaintances going through that kind of drama. OTOH, my D2 would thrive on all that social energy and might well want to go Greek when she gets to college.</p>
<p>mihcal1 - NP. :)</p>
<p>CT1417 - I think you mean Skit. They still do it and it is often the highlight for recruits and sisters. D1 used to laugh just describing it to us.</p>
<p>No sign of either college kid … I think they are glad to have the 'rents out of their hair now that they are back in their own worlds.</p>
<p>Speaking of former summer jobs … my first job at 14 in Ohio was picking strawberries in a hot field for 5 cents a quart, now that is hard labor, especially when you count the days we had to weed the fields when the strawberries weren’t ready. My kids are happy with their pizza jobs when they hear these tails of woe …</p>
<p>By the way, my kids really aren’t going to be wearing a real suit for their post college job interviews … one is a jazz musician type and the other will be some kind of environmentalist. I suspect a new Woolrich type shirt for the boy and a new hairdo and jazz outfit for the girl will be their ‘suits,’ but in the meantime, they will do whatever hard labor they can in order to cover their college expeneses. Mean mom.</p>
<p>LOL Jaylynn–my DH detassled one summer.</p>
<p>congrats to all the kids who have completed or are in the midst of rush at their schools. I was not part of greek life, in fact my college did not have any frats or sororities, but my daughter did pledge at her college and she was thrilled with being a member. It was so stressful while going through the process but in the end, she was in the perfect sorority for her and she made friends who I think with be lifelong. </p>
<p>My son, on the other hand, has no interest and does not think he will be a part of greek life at his college. He is very active in several ec’s and has a tight social group so is not finding the need. He is happy to be back at school and starting his second semester. We had preordered a bunch of his books from used book sites and did well, but a few he needed new editions so they cost us…his discreet math book alone was several hundred dollars and I have no idea what discreet math even is???</p>
<p>MizzBee - sorry, but I have to ask. Detassled?</p>
<p>My son managed to wait til he got back to school to get sick. He’s got a ferocious cold and pink eye in both eyes. After lying about not actually picking up the prescription - and not going to class either - I threatened to fly up there if he didn’t go get some help figuring out what he needed. So he knocked on the ra’s door, lo and behold she was actually there, and I guess one look at him and she took him to the health center and they’re on the way to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Thank heavens for an ra with common sense. He didn’t know how to get the prescription, not to mention I think it’s single digits there and snowing. I think the education we’re paying for is more about taking care of himself than the actual classes.</p>