<p>amtc --</p>
<p>The adjustable rails at my D’s school raised the bed high enough for the dresser and bookcase to fit under. It wouldn’t have been high enough for a couch.</p>
<p>Just read through the Rochester Victory alliance link PN posted.</p>
<p>Where is the info that this had been first tried on animals with what response so they are now moving on to human testing?</p>
<p>Just as a reminder. Flu shots do not have live virus in them (once upon a time they did) and while they help many people avoid the flu, there are a number of people who report other immune response issues have arisen. </p>
<p>I would be very careful before joining a trial where one is injected with something intended to produce an immune response.</p>
<p>I am SO looking forward to 4 years of tales of General Mom…selfish, I know, but it sounds like neighbor’s S has things under control :)</p>
<p>I also feel kind of bad for General Mom…she must be really, really unhappy trying SO hard to control everything about her S’ college experience. This is a mom who, perhaps, is finding life not-as-fulltime-mom-to-oldest-S pretty miserable? (I’m trying to be charitable here)</p>
<p>I’m curious how many kids loft their beds and keep them lofted. My D and her roommate lofted theirs, then 2 days later unlofted them. They decided they wanted to be able to sit up in bed (which they couldn’t when the beds were up) and also have people come and hang out in their room. With the lofts, they only had their desk chairs and two extra circle chairs. Now they have both of their beds and 4 chairs for seating.</p>
<p>I really really like to control things, BUT… I would NEVER ever even think of becoming involved in my kids’ roommate issues. That poor kid does not deserve to have that added struggle to his new college life. I hope he is able to shrug off some of her demands and that her S does find the courage to stand up for himself with his mom.</p>
<p>S: Hi Mom!
me: Hi! How’s it going?
S: Fine. Do you know the details about that induction thing tonight?
me: …remind me what you’re talking about?
S: You know - for my scholarship? The induction ceremony.
me: Oh - I think I saw that letter in your room, I’ll go up and look.
me: Here - it starts at 5:00. What time is it now?
S: 5:30. Where is it?
me: The library.
S: OH, OK. I’m in front if the library now, so I’ll just go in now.
me: Are you already dressed up?
S: It said business casual and I’ve got a polo and cargo shorts on, so that’ll work.</p>
<p>me: <em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>DS is launched!! Oberlin is an amazing, amazing place. It is definitely the right place for ds. We had a wonderful two days of great weather and informative sessions. While my heart has a continuous, empty ache, I haven’t cried. He is ready to start his life. :)</p>
<p>ETA: Okay - I have gotten teary eyed over other, trivial things. I think ds being away might have something to do with it!!!</p>
<p>Yay lisa and Lisa S!</p>
<p>I’ve been moping along as I haven’t heard anything from S. My D says he posted something about changing all his classes around to go in a new direction. Would have been nice to have discussed this a bit with him.</p>
<p>Upthread someone asked about football with no kids… </p>
<p>Yes is the easy answer - why is always more difficult to answer. Yes, dumb and crazy describe it pretty well. </p>
<p>Although since it’s NU, we should say it’s a "non-optimal decision that is questionable viz a viz a normative standard-linear thinking format.</p>
<p>D2 didn’t get into the dance troop she wanted. They didn’t pick up any first years, but nevertheless D2 is still upset. She was a bit teary on the phone. Apparently there is a lot of break-ups with old boy/girlfriend from home already.</p>
<p>So sorry, oldfort! I know it’s frustrating when things don’t work out even when there’s clear evidence that it’s not something you did wrong (they took NO freshmen, so she probably never really had a chance).</p>
<p>She did get into a different one. I think sometimes it is just meant to be. D1 was in the one she didn’t get into. It is good she’ll have a different experience, but it is hard to tell her that when she is upset.</p>
<p>PN–great conversation with your S!</p>
<p>PN - in my defense, my s was only to wake him up - not get him to the church on time. I’m sure for college cargo shorts are one step away from a tuxedo.</p>
<p>Oldfort - I’m sorry your d is disappointed. We never like to see our kids not get what they want. I hope she can look back at this and be content with the new group. </p>
<p>I like how we’re all hanging on to scraps of information. Amazing at how much I can read into a one sentence text.</p>
<p>I am really curious as to how many of the parents who post/visit here regularly (and I am including myself in this) were latchkey kids. My parents were not divorced, but my mom worked outside of the home. I was incredibly self-reliant at a very young age. And while my parents definitely loved (and still love) me, they weren’t involved in my college admissions process. And they basically let me be while I was away at school. </p>
<p>Part of the reason I parent the way I do, is because of the way I was parented. And while I know a lot of what I do is good, I also recognize that in some cases it isn’t. My Gen-X self also strongly believes in self-reliance and personal responsibility. I wonder how this generation will parent? Again, I am not throwing stones here at all–I am in the same boat as all of you. I text, Skype, iChat, Instagram, etc. with my kid. I am just curious…</p>
<p>I guess each of us has to find the right balance between communication with our kids and their independence. As for myself, I was close to my parents but also very independent. I went to college far from home and we worked out a once per week phone call deal. I remember my roommate and her mother spoke every day, which I thought was weird, but they ended up being a wonderful family, so to each his own. That General Mom who feels free to text her S’s roommate is just…inappropriate.</p>
<p>My D tends to stay in touch about once a week, but it seems like S is in that “taste of freedom” stage. I am not surprised because his favorite line all summer has been “don’t tell me what to do.”</p>
<p>PN - thanks for the link to the vaccine study. I didn’t think to look and see if any info was online. I guess I’m still a little bit technical Amish. I’m still leaning against the study, but it’s his life.</p>
<p>Gradygrad - my folks divorced when I was 11 and I ended up living with my dad while my sister lived with my mom. I pretty much more or less raised myself. Most of the time I was outside wandering the woods, riding horses, or working at a barn I rode at. Any cooking that was done, I did. Ditto that for cleaning. For college? My guidance counselor and mom helped. My kids were raised pretty free range, but we’re also fairly rural, so they weren’t exactly roaming the streets until they could drive. They never did hang out at the mall - nor want to. They did enjoy our farm (launching rockets, playing outside and/or at the creek, various farm chores - those might not have been enjoyed as much, but they built character). We also did a lot together as a family - esp travel and geocaching, but also board games and general life. I tried to give my guys what I never had. ;)</p>
<p>However, since we come from an area where academics aren’t as highly thought of or aimed toward as where most of you are, I also took on the guidance counselor role. Even though I work at our local public high school - or more accurately BECAUSE I work at our local public high school - I pulled all three of my boys out to homeschool once oldest hit 9th grade. At that time middle (my 2016 kid) was starting 7th and youngest, 5th. Older two far preferred homeschooling and both did well academically - much better than they could have in our public school. Youngest isn’t my academic guy… he returned to public school for high school and is shining there (very near the top) even though he just scores average on anything like the PSAT. It kind of makes me cringe because he has the capability to do far better - just not the drive my other two had. He’d do better academically if he went back to homeschooling and we had more rigor in our academics, but he doesn’t want that. I’m already deferring to his wishes by letting him stay in public school. I do worry about his future though. We’ve never been super high financially and he won’t have the scores to get much in scholarships if he doesn’t buckle down and do a little bit outside of school. Time will tell.</p>
<p>Homeschooling or not, my guys were never sheltered - well - maybe when they were young and I didn’t believe in letting 5 year olds watch R rated movies like some of our peers - but they were brought up with a better understanding of the world (and academics) than most of their peers locally - perhaps all of their peers locally. (And they did have peers… both from public school with groups - like Chess - that they joined and some community youth groups.)</p>
<p>Oldest has done extremely well at his college socially and leadership-wise. He’s not too shabby academically either. Middle will likely do quite well, but time will tell. He’s loving it all so far. Youngest I worry about. Our public high school gives a poor foundation and he doesn’t have to work for his straight As (currently a 4.3+ GPA). He’s going to get to college and be overwhelmed I fear - even if he picks a lower level college which may be all he can get into.</p>
<p>I’ve stayed off the public school thread… I work at one, but for myself, I attended a MUCH better one. My thoughts on all of it are quite mixed. I’ve no regrets homeschooling for the upper grades and wish youngest would have the temperament to study at home (but that would require work and he doesn’t want to do it).</p>
<p>FWIW, youngest was scoring in the 99th percentile with English and 85th for math when he finished 8th grade homeschooling. He now scores around 65th percentile for English and 50th for math after two years at my high school. Both scores were using national tests. Yeah, I have mixed thoughts about public school. But hey, he has a 4.3+ GPA.</p>
<p>Not a parent but I like reading this thread, they have the football games before school starts at a lot of quarter schools because they play semester schools who’ve usually started by the time the games start</p>
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<p>boysx3’s neighbors’ son seems to be handing things perfectly. If roomie’s mom emails or texts him, well that’s why there’s a delete key. If she calls, then he needn’t answer or can just give a non-response (“sorry, you’ve caught me at a bad time”) and hang up. Yes, she is out of line and behaving badly. But there’s no need to bother the RA or escalate with an inflammatory response.</p>
<p>When roommie’s family visits, boysx3’s neighbor’s son should just go about his business. He is under no obligation to vacate the room or otherwise deviate from his routine. If he doesn’t want roommie’s brother staying the night then he should politely tell them so – but then the rules should apply fairly to all prospective guests. Honestly, though, I don’t see any problem with roommie’s little bro bringing a sleeping bag and sleeping on the floor.</p>
<p>I haven’t caught up with this thread yet so forgive me if this has already been suggested: neighborboy could just block crazymom’s email address. Just refuse to play her game.</p>