<p>Vandy, you are oh so right. Fred, your comment is one I am going to share with my D.</p>
<p>Good afternoon all. I’m soooo exhausted. I have to train my worksite (92 people) on a new software program and training started today. Six training sessions of 2 and 1/2 days. I am not looking forward to the next 7 weeks. The upside is that I doubt I’ll be talking to S much about college ;)</p>
<p>update on foreign exchange student: It looks like we will be getting a student from France! Let the fun times begin :)</p>
<p>Ree: Good luck with the training 
</p>
<p>Ter: Nice!!! I have heard that exchange students from Brazil, France and Germany are the BEST!!</p>
<p>reeinaz, it sounds like you’ll be pretty busy in the foreseeable future! </p>
<p>ternizak, do you know where in France yet?</p>
<p>Free=drick: All I know so far is that he lives near a lake and surrounded by the Alps…Hopefully, I will find out some more as the day goes on. A bg plus for my DS is that he plays tennis…</p>
<p>So many fun/sad/thoughtful posts as the school year winds down. It is interesting how we find it a relief to unburden ourselves anonymously about minor and some serious worries…frankly, that is really all we want is to have someone listen(read) and offer a little sympathy and mild advice. I find it very reassuring to feel there are lots of people going through the same stuff …and yes, in the big scope of things, dealing with healthy and reasonably happy teens is actually something to be thankful for …but so nice to kvetch without feeling guilty for not always counting my blessings. </p>
<p>Good luck everyone in supporting the mildly hysterical and deranged teen preparing for SAT or ACT–mine has also had her rollercoaster moments–while they also deal with IB IAs and papers and AP tests and whatever…</p>
<p>To solve all angst and bitterness about chores, lack of appreciation, stress…Take a moment to totally embarrass your teen…it feels so good. Today, driving DD to school listening to an “oldies” station the Ramones’ “I want to be sedated” came on…DD commented on the lousy lyrics as I sang along…told me that my generation had no taste in music (says the generation that made Kayne West and Jay-Z rich men)…I said I was having flashbacks to dancing at an outdoors Ramones concert…my head started moving, I couldn’t help but turn up the volume with the windows down…pulling in front of the school, heads turning, “check out the cool mom in the Highlander” (I believe they were thinking) …Dd frantically trying to turn down the volume… squealing please stop…laughing but bright red…I continued to belt out “I want to be sedated…can’t control my fingers…can’t control my brain…oh no oh no oh oh” Fanfare for the middle aged mother!! she will never forgive me but also will never forget the day of her U.S.-VA History Exam!</p>
<p>terinzak - Felicitations! (Means “Congrats!” in French if you are not a speaker.) I think you have a wonderful year ahead of you! </p>
<p>Step-D is home (in FL) from her Cali trip with her dad. Had an absolute blast. Loved San Diego State (a lot!) and took Loyola Marymount off of her list completely. So…we are every closer to the ‘narrowing’ of the application list. And…she got to see California for the first time. Hooray! </p>
<p>Vandy - I’m with you. I’ve already told Step-D that once her applications are in and done (middle of October is what we’re shooting for) I will let her be a Senior and not worry so much. Let’s see if I can do it. hee But seriously, we’re not shooting for any Ivy’s or “big reaches” over here either so I am determined not to carry on. </p>
<p>MDMOM - Wow! You have been married since you were 19! Kudos to you! That is a real testament to marriage in this day and age! Love your giant HA!!! after Cooking. I seriously do not know how to turn on our stove. There is no cooking (by me) going on in our house. A few years ago, I spent considerable time looking in the ‘frosting’ aisle for green icing. I called H frustrated, and that’s when he told me that one would have to buy green food coloring and then add it to vanilla frosting to make green frosting! 
I seriously did not know this! </p>
<p>SteveMA - Oh! I really hope your D visits San Diego State and likes it! How great would that be if our girls end up happy at the same place! By the way I hear the President is coming to MN soon! Big doings over there!! :)</p>
<p>Oh, FAMM, you gave me a much needed laugh!</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom- I will fight you on the Kayne/Jay-Z comments! lol Love both of them for different reasons (and frankly I think Jay-Z pre-Beyonce is more interesting…) but for my money Kayne’s “College Dropout” and “Late Registration” are two incredible albums. Jay-Z’s accomplishments are too numerous to mention but his collaboration with Alicia Keys on “Empire State of Mind” is one of his latest and greatest (IMHO!) :)</p>
<p>I just found this page and realized that so many people have been prepping their kids for college for YEARS! I have one graduating in 2013 and another in 2014 (and more in the trenches), and I’m begging parents to step up if they can give me advice on the FOLLOWING:</p>
<p>My son who is graduating in 2013 basically only will turn 16 as he’s moving into his college dorm…yes, after HS graduation. He’s in the middle of an IB program and completed much of the (college) math sequence for majors when he was in middle school…among other things.</p>
<p>He’ll be so young, yet he’s definitely talented and has worked hard. Any advice on how to “college educate” a kid like this? I have some ideas…but I certainly would appreciate any comments re: how you or someone you know may have dealt with a similar situation with a young college student. </p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p><strong>No nasty comments or any of that please.</strong></p>
<p>Ldog: Thanks It’s been a wild ride…but I wouldn’t trade it for the WORLD :D</p>
<p>A funny cooking story: While making Manicotti, the recipe called for “hot sauce” to be placed at the bottom of the pan before placing the stuffed noddles in. So, I used hot sauce…from Taco Bell. It was all I could find. Later, during dinner H said he was rather impressed as the dinner had a nice little “kick to it”. Later, I told my Mom about what I had done. After she picked up the phone that she dropped by laughing so hard, she told me I was supposed to place hot MARINARA sauce at the bottom of the pan. Not actual “Hot Sauce”. To this day I have never lived it down…</p>
<p>Welcome Mummy24!! Wow!!! Good for your S13!! Very impressive. Is he looking at staying close to home?</p>
<p>Yesterdays ZITS cartoon Glad it gave you a chuckle. S13 was yelling for me to come look at as he was cracking up because we seriously did that to him last fall as prep for the PSAT. H and I seeing who could use bigger words. Then S and I started doing it to my D!</p>
<p>Walker I could have used your basement this weekend. I spent half the weekend cleaning a Trojan out of Hs computer, and the other half with my mother. 
Then, H flood the toilet all over the clothes I had sorted on the bathroom floor. Apple margaritas, berry margaritas . . . heck, just give me the tequila! </p>
<p>Wahoo lol @ you having your S17s admissions essay topic lined up! S just lost a coach too bummed that he wont be around for his final year.</p>
<p>Our2girls this might be too late, but yes, you can change the ACT date after the test date. Just make sure you do it by the registration deadline for the new test date.</p>
<p>Terinzak cool that your S will have a fellow tennis player! Does your S take French?</p>
<p>Laurendog congrats on the narrowing of the list thats a big accomplishment!</p>
<p>MDMom that one has me lmao! </p>
<p>Welcome, mummy24! Im sure there have been parents prepping their kids for years, but Ive only been at it for a year!</p>
<p>So S13 comes down last night after finally taking a practice SAT Physics test. He asked is 720 good? Umm, seriously, this test is in 3 days and you dont know what a good score is!?!? Grrrr . . . so I asked him if he knew what areas he needed to work on and he said optics and nuclear physics. The same stuff he knew he needed to work on 3 weeks ago for the AP since his teacher never covered it. I told him to tell his GF he wont be seeing her since he has a date with Khan Academy for the next two days.</p>
<p>Is it customary in your area to buy teacher/gc gifts at the end of the year? </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s customary here beyond elementary school, but I always do. The kids write thank you notes and include small gift cards - a little larger for those teachers that wrote a bunch of LORs for him! </p>
<p>Last year, a few gift cards disappeared. We looked everywhere and couldn’t find them, so I had to go out a second time and buy a few more. When I got a note from D’s teacher thanking me for the VERY generous gift and that she would enjoy ALL the gift cards I realized where they went - my D must have stuck them all in one card! At least she was a good teacher and more than deserved them!</p>
<p>So you guys have me laughing today! </p>
<p>I love that ZITS has the SAT theme this week. Quite appropriate! S3 takes the regular SATs Saturday. </p>
<p>MDMOM: I will have to try Manicotti with hot sauce!! </p>
<p>Confession: DH does all the cooking at our house. I was quite nauseous when I was pregnant with D1 so he started cooking and we realized he was much better at it, so I haven’t really done it since. He has his own buisness and is usually home by 3pm, so it makes more sense. And likely we would starve if it were up to me.</p>
<p>Okay mommydearest: Explain getting a Trojan out of the computer? I believe the computer does not benefit from such protection? My brother found a Trojan wrapper under his keyboard after his son and girlfriend had been “playing on the computer” which mortified him.</p>
<p>Everyone, today is calm and happy I forgot my wine last night because I got sucked into my highly intellectual viewing of the Bachelorette (:</p>
<p>Mummy24- You will love this group! You do have challenges with such a young motivated S! Does he want to go away first year? do you have any good colleges nearby?</p>
<p>Mommydearest Love your story about the 720 score question by your S, as well as the ZITS cartoon! Also, thanks for the info on changing her (last) ACT test date from June to September. Get this: D had decided to do the MS150 bike ride when school starts with her high school cool, good idea and we said sure and then she realized THE DAY AFTER I sent the ACT prep class check in that it was Friday-Sunday over the September ACT weekend. WTH?? Did she not think it important enough to check? Major meltdown by all. I said she could take the test and wed drive her wherever they were camping so she could camp Saturday night and she could ride the second day. STILL a major problem, until her friend, who was ALSO doing both and hadnt checked the dates either, was told by her mom the same thing. And all is well. Grrr why is it okay for her friends moms suggestion to be okay, and not mine?</p>
<p>Mummy24 no personal experience, but my half-brother turned 17 the summer before going to WU-STL. Somehow he talked them into letting him live off-campus (what??) right away and he did very well. Home for him was CA, and I was less than a mile away from his apartment, but he was very independent.</p>
<p>MDMom hilarious story about cooking! I love it that your mom laughed so hard she dropped the phone!</p>
<p>I know all the 2013 grads will be out of our homes sooner than we think. I will be glad when testing is finished, and applications are in. All of our Ds schools are rolling admission, I believe, unless she throws one at us. We should know her options by Thanksgiving, I think.</p>
<p>Our D17 will be applying to (Catholic) high school the second week of November, and we have to wait until the second Saturday of February to find out if she is accepted to her first choice. Gonna be a stressful school year, but it will be great to look forward to both an 8th grade graduation and a high school graduation in 2013!</p>
<p>Thank you, MDMom and MommyDearest13!</p>
<p>Not sure about keeping him close to home…is it fair if his #1 school is across the country…or should we encourage him to attend a good school near here (for his bachelor’s) and focus on the top schools in his field for graduate school?</p>
<p>Lol…“is it fair?” None of his school experience has been “fair,” so that’s not a valid statement on which to comment. Thanks anyway.</p>
<p>Anyway, his dad and I are beside ourselves trying to figure this out…mostly from a safety standpoint. I mean, who lets their S16 just go out and roam the streets at night like college students are known to do? You can’t join the military without parental approval until you’re 17, and even then, they watch you like a hawk. But we don’t want him to feel let down and resigned to a college he either already attended or turned down (in MS…d/t other family obligations) after the K-12 school experience he has had.</p>
<p>I feel bad for the kid b/c it’s like he can’t win for losing…and Mom and Dad don’t seem to be much help at this point, either…</p>
<p>Anyway, he’s super good at math but not the best writer. Mom’s advice most recently was to have him attend a liberal arts college so that he can get his writing skills REALLY “worked on” while still having the opportunity to major in a math subject and do research. Then, if he works hard, he’ll be a catch for graduate programs b/c he’ll be able to do math-stuff AND write (research papers). </p>
<p>Does that sound logical? Or am I as crazy as he seems to think I am? ;)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone…whether you reply or you just glance at my ramblings…</p>
<p>Wherenext: I’m glad I’m not the only one who had to re-read that a few times to realize it was a “Trojan Horse Virus”…at least I am hoping ;)</p>
<p>MommyD: Too funny!!! And no gifts here…just too many teachers with kids in back to back grades. But, will ABSOLUTELY get “gifts” for the lucky one’s who will be writing Jr’s LOR’s.</p>
<p>TX5: Found that Taco Bell Medium-Hot Sauce works best ;)</p>