<p>Glido - thanks for the memory bump. D got invited to her BF’s school prom this week. They both volunteer at a program where they are assigned big or little brothers/sisters that they mentor and tutor. Her BF made up a group of poster boards that asked her to the prom and had a group of his “little’s” parade into their work room where D was with her kids. The last one carried a bouquet of flowers. Pretty elaborate planning. In our day we just picked up the phone and called. LOL</p>
<p>I only have a quick second to post since I have been gone for 10 days and have a lot of catching up to do but can I make the suggestion that the ship leave from San Diego. It is simply beautiful here today. It is the sort of day that is going to make my D question her decision to leave California for college. Plus I have a pitcher of Sangria in the fridge since I have out of town company.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone in the coming days with admitted student visits and decisions. I am freaking out because my older son graduates from Ohio State in 22 days I don’t have anything planned for our family for the 5 day event which is almost 3000 miles away. Can I bring my relatives aboard our cruise???</p>
<p>They call those Prom-posals and the kids get pretty creative with them! Sometimes they go way overboard, but that one sounds cute 
S14 helped his buddy put styrofoam cups in a fence to spell out Prom? with both their names on every cup. </p>
<p>I’ve mentioned the very elaborate promposals DS’s friends construct. And sometimes it does involve actual construction – one asking involved a replica of the house from Up. Another one used a pickup truck bed lined with a tarp and then filled with water, occupied by two boys in bathing suits and cowboy hats. That one made me laugh out loud when I saw it on You Tube. And then there are the ones that have live bands, including a brass section, and choreography!</p>
<p>DS won’t do anything that elaborate, especially since his date goes to a different school and thus has lower expectations. For homecoming he spelled out his query in post it notes on her car, and had flowers, but overall pretty low key.</p>
<p>I’m disembarking temporarily from my duties on SS Indecision to take a side journey to London for spring break but will be back with a full tray of drinks to pass around when I return.</p>
<p>@maryjay60 That sounds SO delicious!</p>
<p>@itsv - I’ll take one of those sangria’s please! </p>
<p>D’s boyfriend was very sweet with the promposal. They’ve dated since early Junior year and have gone to every homecoming, prom and winter dance together. They were also homecoming prince and princess this year. He made a big picture frame with photos of the two of them over their high school times together and wrote her a very sweet poem in the middle and asked her to the prom in the poem. </p>
<p>We’re hosting the picture/dinner party here tomorrow night for prom. Things are pretty set and I’m actually pretty unflustered. </p>
<p>We will go down to LA tomorrow to attend UCLA’s engineering open house on Sunday. Then on Monday, S11 will play hooky from classes at SC so we can spend a family day at Disneyland. I can’t believe I am encouraging skipping classes when yearly tuition divides into literally hundreds of dollars for each day in the seat! The boys have milestone birthdays this month- 18 and 21. S11 won’t be home for his 21st, so we want to splurge on a fun family day. I hope the park isn’t too mobbed. Hopefully the day after we come home S14 will submit his SIR to UCLA and I can start serving those drinks! I make a lovely fresh mango margarita by the way! :-* </p>
<p>@Minnymom
Have fun at UCLA/Anaheim! My D is at UCLA for overnight hosting since yesterday and will pick her up tomorrow.</p>
<p>@Minnymom – years ago we pretended to get in the car to take the girls to school, and instead took them to Disneyland – it was so much fun to see the surprise on their face, and it was a day very well spent. Enjoy it to the hilt, and don’t worry about a missed day of school. </p>
<p>I just found out that a dear friend and former co-worker passed in her sleep last night, after a week of flu symptoms (we had another acquaintance pass in similar circumstances in December) – life can be far too short, and although we have to live life, we also need to stop once in a while, and just enjoy time with our family and friends. I know my friend would LOVE it, if her passing could help others spend just a little more time valuing the loved ones in their life – she was one of those people that always had a smile on her face.</p>
<p>@PetraElise - so sorry for your loss! We had a young expectant mother in our town fall victim to the flu. First losing the baby, then her own life. So sad that something as simple as the flu can be so tragic. :(</p>
<p>@Minnymom - I agree! Go have a great day at Disneyland! You all deserve a fun day from all this craziness!!</p>
<p>AvonHSDad - I love it! kids these days go all out. Our DS made up a “clever” poster arranged to have friends guide the prospective date into the zone as well. Back in the day, we just picked up the phone! Now everyone gets details and helpers arranged via social media and they arrange an event and video tape it. </p>
<p>@Beadymom – it is definitely unexpected in this day and age, especially for young-ish people. I think we get so busy with every day demands, that we sometimes forget to listen to our bodies, and slow down when we need to.</p>
<p>My S wanted to ask his GF to prom, but she is in college several hours away. He was all stressed about how he could handle the situation, and what he could do. He had all sorts of elaborate ideas in mind, most that involved driving 4 hours one way to deliver the question. Then I reminded him that he needed a form signed by her to buy the prom tickets that had to be purchased this past week. So, his only option was to call her and ask her on the phone, then request that she sign the form and email it back so he could buy the tickets! Not very romantic, but did the trick. I think once you are out of HS, you don’t really expect the whole crazy asking thing. </p>
<p>@PetraElise We also put the kids in the car as if we were driving them to school and flew to Disney instead. (Why are we driving to school? We usually walk. Why are we stopping for donuts? This isn’t the way to school. Where are we going? We’re at an airport. Where are we going? The younger one figured it out when the flight attendant announced that we had just arrived in Orlando, home of a very famous mouse.) </p>
<p>It’s harder to pull something like this now that they’re older.</p>
<p>Prom isn’t a big thing with my Ds. They go with a group of friends, some of whom are dating but most are not. The trick is to get everyone in another grade that wants to go invited by someone in the class. </p>
<p>I love the surprise trip to Disney stories! We used to the same thing but to Rye Playland. We’d say “we have to do some errands” in a very boring tone of voice. Then why is dad going? they’d ask (only moms do errands). They were so excited and surprised! Of course it stopped working once they could read the huge signs saying “welcome to Rye Playland.”</p>
<p>Sorry to derail this conversation about Disney and Prom but… Yesterday we took one D back to one of her choices. (Other d had rehearsal and cldnt go). By noon she was ready to leave, not her thing, premed program not personal enough, 26k kids on a beautiful traditional type campus w blooming cherry blossoms but not her style). By 4 she had completely changed her mind after touring theatre facilities. I honestly just wish she wld get off Harvard’s wait list bc at this point I wld eat pb and jelly for 4 years just to have her feel completely at home somewhere. Harvard was her place. I wish we had applied ED and there weren’t so many darn brilliant kids this year! Ok I’m done. Off to the other coast on Monday bc why not make this even more confusing! Ha </p>
<p>@3tallblonds
I feel for you. That’s like stress x 2. Have fun @ USC. Fight on!</p>
<p>I was joking to my wife that if our D choose Cornell that we’ll be in poverty-mode in the next 4 years or so, so you better buy a purse now because you’ll not buying any purse in the next 4 years.</p>
<p>Good morning Parents’ Forum!! Boy am I happy to see you all. If anyone wants their blood pressure to rise, take a read of this thread: “Accepted, Can Afford It, But Parents Won’t Pay? What can I do??” in the College Admissions & Search forum. Some of the advice by very senior members to the OP left me fuming & appalled & anxious to run back to the kindness and camaraderie of this forum. </p>
<p>We’re off for a fun day of Chinese food, a showing of “Legally Blonde” & then D will attend the long-awaited pro/con party with friends. DH & I will spend our hopefully final night downing margaritas on the Lido deck of the SS Indecision.</p>
<p>@3tallblonds - I can empathize with you as we are right there with you (well, not the Harvard part). We are back from an ASD of which by 11:30 my son stated, “I don’t think I want to go here” and was ready to leave. I was not a happy camper as I felt he did not give it a chance, didn’t ask questions, didn’t want to see anything…I made him stop at the “activities” fair which was NOT well represented considering I believe they said they had around 300 clubs and there were only about 20 clubs present. I also made him do a housing tour which was self-guided so he could get a little more about the social aspect of the college. Overall, he just didn’t get a good “vibe” from the college, although he did like the program offerings. So now, we are left with one ASD to a school he has never visited and far from home - problem being is he doesn’t know if he wants to go away to school. His response about the local school is, “Well, it’s better than the one we visited today!” isn’t too comforting!! He also showed no investment in finding out about the local college. The local school also has in my opinion very large class sizes which he would not do well with. Just in case, DS does not like the last school we are visiting, I am actually going to re-start the college search!! 
Sorry for the rant! </p>
<p>I’m not sure if y’all remember, but S14 had applied EA to a super safety school. At one point they seemed to have lost his application and he emailed back and forth with the admissions counselor a few times and then gave up. He figured he would go to either of the schools where he had been admitted before he would go there anyway. So TODAY, April 12th- 3 full months after he should have heard about EA- he got a big envelope in the mail with a $90K 4 year scholarship. Oh yes, this is a rolling admissions school too. Yes, he applied in October. Yes, he heard back 6 months later. He has no intention of going there but I think it helped his ego a little. </p>
<p>Finally tally: 3-2-1
Albion College- Accepted- $90K merit over 4 years if he maintained a 3.0
Kalamazoo College- Accepted - $82K merit over 4 years if he maintains a 2.5
University of Michigan- Accepted- $1000 one time scholarship (but very nice financial aid package)</p>
<p>Oberlin- Waitlisted
Brown- Waitlisted</p>
<p>Northwestern- Redirected.</p>
<p>S14 was heard to say “If I get off the wait list at Oberlin we’ll discuss it, but I think I’d probably go to Michigan anyway”</p>
<p>I think we have a favorite emerging <em>fingers crossed</em></p>