<p>Mummy: My SIL graduated HS at 16 and went straight into UCI. It was close to home and to my other SIL who lived close by. She loved it and graduated by the time she was 20. Again, close to home helped with her being so young, as did the lack of “party atmosphere” at UCI. Not that there weren’t parties…just not sure they would go under “All Night Rager…OMG…Animal House has got NOTHIN’ on us” type parties…</p>
<p>wherenext: after a government official scandal when my boys were young, the “keep it in your pants” (without condoms) has taken on new meaning…and since they both are so driven, I’ve found that letting them know how much kids change lives, the importance of waiting until goals have been attained or you may never get another chance, etc, has been quite helpful. </p>
<p>And who had the confession about DH doing the cooking? I have a worse confession: S15, S14 (I made a mistake…the S’s are confusing), and D12 (w/ some help from Dalmost8) do most of mine. Yep, it’s b/c they’re better than either my husband or me! For real! At least they have some skills to take away into the world, eh? ;)</p>
<p>Mummy, When I visited St. Olaf a couple summers ago I thought it would be the perfect place if my son wanted to accelerate high school. It sounds like your son already has a first pick, but you might want to look for a nurturing, “dry campus” for your son and then perhaps a more competitive school for graduate school. I can imagine that your pride is mixed with concern. My 16 y o son is spending the entire summer on the Ole Miss campus taking college courses. I think he’ll make good choices but it can be quite the partying school…</p>
<p>Mummy24–I know there are some schools that advertise admitting students under 18 (or I guess soon to be 18) you may want to call some of them and see what they “do differently” to acclimate a kid as young as 16. Even if your son attends a different school you may get some ideas from the other schools as to what to do. Perhaps they have advisors who are assigned to the younger kids…it doesnt sound like the academics will be the problem; sounds like your concern is more for the social setting. I will say that on a tour of Haverford, which does admit younger students (I didnt know this till the tour)…the tour guide was one of these “youngsters” and she explained how supportive they school was…on the other hand, she also acknowledged that after her first year, she took a year off(I think it was a year) to “grow up” and then returned feeling more comfortable…</p>
<p>Re: young kids going away to college. Does your S have expereince away from home? We sent our kids to an international summer camp when they were 11 - one in India and the other in Norway for 4 weeks. It was a sink or swim experience. But they learned to manage money, roommates, air travel, etc. They have both traveled extensively on their own since then. Both of my kids are on the young side (17 when they start college) and the older one has done just fine. Younger one can’t wait to go as far away as possible. But, of course, I know many kids that want to be within an hour or so from home. Personal preference.</p>
<p>lol, wherenext if I found that kind of Trojan in Hs computer (or any of his possessions), he wouldnt have lived to flood the toilet!</p>
<p>Its funny you should bring that up today though. . . I went up in S13s room this morning for dirty laundry while he was in the shower. I cleaned out the pocket of the shorts he wore yesterday and guess what I found? At least it wasnt an empty wrapper! (Im hoping its just wishful thinking on his part at this point!) I left the stuff on his bed so he would know I saw it. Man did he take forever coming out of his room! We had (another) long talk about what a big responsibility it is and that condoms dont always work. S is driven too, but there are other forces at work here! This parenting stuff is hard work!</p>
<p>Our2girls I have lots of experience with changing ACT test dates! We had the same thing happen when S committed to a Math competition without noticing that it was the same day/time as the ACT. Glad your Ds friends Mom was on the same page!</p>
<p>Mummy - I do not know the details but I remember someone writing about the “rights” of students that aren’t 18 - and the different kind of insurance and agreements you have to have with universities if they live on campus - I am assuming an admissions counselor can help with that! </p>
<p>As far as the “trojans” - just had the discussion again with d13 - it is harder with a girl I think - I just told her that her bf is a body full of raging hormones (he is almost 18 and we really like him but…!) and she better not put herself in a situation where her “girl” emotions take over! She quickly reminded me “MOM I KNOW!!! and you don’t have to worry about it” Not sure what that means!!!</p>
<p>Hi Everyone, I have spent the last few hrs trying to catch up! </p>
<p>D’13 and I just got back from visiting her BF in OK, he is really having a rough time and not enjoying the Army right now. This young man had wanted to join the Army from the time he was young, I just don’t think there was anyway his expectations could be met. He deploys in Oct for a year and I am hopeful that when he returns he will have settled into Army life a little better. D is very understanding and can handle the separation fairly well because she is accustomed to it because my DH is gone so much.</p>
<p>Only one week left of HS, and 18 days left in her DE summer Course. I am so ready for this yr to be over! D’13 has worked so hard this year, I can’t wait for her to relax a little. SAT’s are this weekend, this is her first attempt and not too much prep is going on but that is okay…I am willing to let her to do as she sees best and retake in the Fall if need be. ACT is the following Saturday and is her second attempt, she will look over some writing tips and review for the math. Her first score was good, I will be happy with a bump of a couple of points.</p>
<p>Mummy24, My D’13 is in the same boat, except she will turn 16 this August so 17 as College starts. Honestly we don’t treat D as a typical 15 yr old because she isn’t. When she was little they wanted to double promote D in 2nd grade, knowing she was already young compared to many in her grade and thinking ahead to HS/College we decided against it. At the time we recognized that if we choose to double promote that it would not be fair to say well you can’t do what your classmates are doing because your too young. So we waited. As the years passed it was obvious that D was quiet mature and able to handle herself. Last summer D started talking about graduating early, H and I had the talk again…now all the worries we had in 2nd grade that we were unable to predict were quiet clear. D is fully capable of being on her own, she is her own advocate and needs minimal guidance from us. So D completed both her 10th & 11th grade years this year. We are not placing any limits on her based on her age because we firmly believe that she is ready and capable of making any decisions necessary. I guess I would question how does your S handle himself? Obviously he is intelligent, but that doesn’t always translate into maturity or good social skills (my H was slow with both :). If he has all the skills necessary then I would try to let go and allow him to be a College Student and treat him as such.</p>
<p>Wherenext- I just laughed my a$$ off over your question about the Trojan and the computer…and then immediately moved to Ewwww over the condom under the keyboard! Yuck!! </p>
<p>Teacher gifts- There is usually a group collection for S10yo- money was collected for his teacher for a gift card to Babies R Us b/c she is pregnant. I am baking banana cake right now for the myriad of other teachers… ten little banana cakes happily baking as I type. </p>
<p>Welcome Mummy24! I have a friend whose son is graduating this year after skipping a grade. He’ll be going across the US to attend Stanford in the fall. I think he might be 17 though. Since he has been with older kids all along, I think he is probably more or less as prepared as they are. As with any kid, some of the learning will just have to be experiential. Oh! And just to note, my Dad graduated high school at 16 and he went on to be pretty fantastic and VERY responsible!</p>
<p>MommyDearest- That was a brilliant move, to leave “it” on the bed and let him come down and talk to you when he was ready. And I guess it is better to be protected and active than active and NOT. I just heard in the past week that the average age to start being sexually active is 17.</p>
<p>Good news for S’13 today. He checked his final grades for the semester online and his lowest grade was a 97 in APUSH. And that was without the quality points. S is hopeful that this will bump him up in rank. As I’ve said before, it’s not a very competitive school but rank always looks good on college apps.</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom, I love the ‘I want to be sedated!’ I envisioned a car pulling up to a school with music blaring and a teen scurrying from the car! To be honest, it sometimes sees much too easy to embarrass my teens!</p>
<p>laurendog, I’m glad your D’s California trip was successful. My D loves it too, but she’s only been further north - San Francisco south to Carmel.</p>
<p>Welcome, mummy24!</p>
<p>MDMom, I think that my H would prefer the hot sauce to marinara sauce, too!</p>
<p>MommyDearest, wow, what a weekend, I’m glad you survived! So funny about the gift cards. Like MDMom, we got gifts for GC and those teachers who wrote LOR’s for S’12 and he will be writing thank you’s to many of his past teachers before the end of school here.</p>
<p>megpmom, congratulations on your S’s grades.</p>
<p>MommyD, vandy and AHS etc --cracking up on lots of levels with the Trojans! I guess that is because the first interest my son has shown in women is Emily on the Bachelorette last night. </p>
<p>I love that we can discuss Trojans and not the USC ones, instead of stressing about looming tests! As my friends used to say: You can love a Trojan once but a Bruin for a lifetime(:</p>
<p>Congrats to megsmom’s S on the grades!</p>
<p>D asked AP teacher for LOR today and she said that she will give D a form to fill out in the fall.</p>
<p>Mummy24, This is very tricky for you guys! Your S sounds amazing and like others have said it depends on his independence now. My D goes away alone every summer. She could never look back. My S goes to a short camp and is so happy to be home afterwards. He may have a hard time leaving at 18.</p>
<p>Megp: Awesome news for your S!!! Congrats for feeling the benefits of all his hard work :)</p>
<p>Since Jr has ZERO homework, he has decided to check out “that Naviance thingy”.<br>
2 mins after logging in, “Mom…this has some seriously cool stuff on here…check this out.”
Me: “That IS cool” said in my most innocent voice while trying not to laugh.</p>
<p>MDMom, glad to know I’m not the only one who has FFYS nights! </p>
<p>reeinaz, I hope the training is going well - I had training today and it was exhausting, I can’t imagine 7 weeks!</p>
<p>teri, France! How exciting! </p>
<p>our2girls, I think that 20 hours per week isn’t bad for a summer job, especially if there are other things going on.</p>
<p>Vandy, I agree with trying to chill. We really do have some awesome kids, and there’s so much darn pressure!</p>
<p>fredericksdottr, I love C&H - oh if we could all have clones - I’d want to be the one that plays all the time. I think it’s true that our kids take themselves for granted. </p>
<p>FAMM, you had me cracking up with your story! Our kids definitely need a little embarrassing once in a while with our goofy antics! I hope it reminds them not to take everything too seriously.</p>
<p>laurendog, I’m so glad that your SD had a good trip to San Diego State. What a relief to have found a school (or two) that she loves!</p>
<p>MDMom, the manicotti story has me laughing too! </p>
<p>Welcome mummy24! Don’t worry - you have plenty of time to sort out colleges. No real advice - I had a hard enough time worrying about my just-18 DS, and his maturity level for college. I’m not sure what to say… if he is going to board at school, see if they have a “wellness dorm” and probably close enough to home that he can come home some weekends. I think the schools that do “early college” admissions would be a good idea as well, since there would be the possibility for other younger students. </p>
<p>mommydearest, at least he’s practicing, right? Good luck!</p>
<p>megpmom, wonderful grades! You must be thrilled. congrats to your S!</p>
<p>I’m leaving the trojans alone! lol (ok, before DS left for college, I told him "the school has condoms all over the place for free - in the laundry room, the common room, etc… use them! He rolled his eyes at me. In 9th grade planned parenthood did a presentation in his school. He came home looking sort of shell shocked and said “they had pretty graphic demonstrations.” I was glad that they’d done that - save me from to do it, and saved DS even more embarrassment!)</p>
<p>I’m so glad that we have such a great group of grounded parents here. We worry, we kvetch, we keep each other sane!</p>
<p>anniezz - ha ha - I must not have written what I meant to write…she has 20 hours for the MONTH of June. I WISH it was 20 hours per week. Sigh. But, I’m not gonna make a big deal out of it. It’s just less money she has to spend on musical instruments 
I know there are kids still looking for jobs so it’s okay.</p>
<p>Ah, I probably just read it wrong trying to keep up with this thread! ha ha!</p>
<p>Oh well. Neither of my kids have summer jobs. DD wants one, but she is away so much with sports camps and other things, it will be hard to do much more than babysit here and there.</p>
<p>DS is still jobless, and after skyping with him this weekend, it’s clear that nothing is happening until he gets home. He has exams in 2 weeks (5 of them) and he is completely stressed out. Apparently he has to memorize a jillion proofs (math kid) and the profs are still piling on the work so he can’t prepare. I jokingly said “Oh, are they going to ask you to prove Fermat’s last theorem?” He said “no, that’s third year.” He wasn’t joking. Oh boy!</p>
<p>our2girls, if your D is a musician, is it possible for her to find some work in that area? D is a violinist and has been paid for playing weddings and she has also been hired to give lessons to younger students. Her orchestra director farms students out all the time for paying gigs, so maybe your D could ask a music teacher if he/she knows of any paying work.</p>
<p>Sooo… I spent a good portion of my afternoon at ,y DD13b’s dance recital. Since this is the first ime I’ve ever seen her dance (outside of an MT production), it was rather exciting. I think she underestimates her dance skills. She is quite a decent tapper! She went straight from that rehearsal to her Hairspray rehearsal and tried on her costumes. They were awful and WAY too big! I guess I’m gonna have to scour the Goodwill again for something acceptable. I kind of wish I’d payed attention in home ec and had some sewing skills. Sigh.</p>
<p>SEX: honestly, we talk about sex all the time. We watch 16 and Pregnant and comment on the dumb choices those girls and guys made and how hard their lives are because of those choices. We also talk about their friends who are having oral sex before school. The “talk” about sex is ongoing. Thank God one Bf is a Mormon and the other is a spineless child of Baptist missionaries. Hahaha!</p>
<p>Good morning! I see you have all been busy. I have been travelling with work and it looks like I am missing some interesting conversations. Sounds like all the kiddos are still doing great. A very accomplished group. </p>
<p>LOL at the sex/condom talks. D13 and I have the talk all the time. Around here, it seems that many kids are active very earlly on. The stories I have heard! I have been fortunate that D attached herself to a very grounded group of kids (and that they always only seem to hang out here at my house). D has a BF now, but I think he is short-lived. S15 is much harder to have those conversations with. He is very uncomfortable, and I think he is my one to worry about. :)</p>
<p>D is also on the young side and will be 17 starting college. </p>
<p>D is starting to take the lead in her college search! (picture angels singing in the background when I say that). She is in the process of creating her own spreadsheet for colleges. She has assembled her “resume”. AND…drum roll…has a very very rough draft of an admissions essay. Can I get an AMEN?</p>
<p>You guys and the condoms have infiltrated my brain. Last night I went to say hi to S14 after work and spotted his wallet. I gave him his health insurance card when he went to Nashville with the guitar class and have been meaning to ask for it back. He gave it to me but underneath I spotted a white square packet and freaked, briefly. Then I realized it was his rubber bands for his braces. He asked why I was laughing and I told him. He of course turned bright red and went. “Moooooooommmmmm!” in that horrified way only teenagers can. d13 heard the words condom and came running to get involved (of course), saying “Did Mom find condoms in your room?!” with a mix of laughter and horror, which brought the small child (who really isn’t that small, he’s taller than me!) off his Xbox marathon with his buddies to see… By this time poor S14 was mortified and his sister and I were laughing so hard we couldn’t tell S17 there were no condoms, so he trotted back to his room and informed half his soccer team his mom just found his brother’s condoms. Poor S14 went storming in and informed them that NO, I didn’t find condoms they were the rubber bands.
I think this thread is truly taking over my life…</p>