<p>If you ask either of my sons what will happen when they get a tattoo they’ll respond, “That will be the day I lose half the inheritance.”</p>
<p>After 3.5 hours of driving, I got to watch DS’s game and then chat with him afterwards for about fifteen minutes. Well worth all that time in the car. He looks good, is very happy, has made lots of friends, gets along with his roommates, and enjoys his classes. It was nice to hug him and see him in person. I miss him terribly of course, but these little visits help, as does the fact that we text almost every day. Silly little texts, like when he sees something amusing on campus and tells me about it. Those small things help me feel connected, and the fact that he initiates some of the texts tells me he thinks about us too.</p>
<p>DH flies out to Case to watch a couple of games over the next two weekends, and DD will accompany him on the second of those trips since I will be in California for my grandmother’s memorial service. We will miss a game on October 11 in Pittsburgh but my brother in law is actually going to drive up for that one and visit family while he is there. I think between me, DH, and BIL we are only going to miss two of Ds’s games (both away games).</p>
<p>Got our first “emergency” phone call from our daughter few hours ago. She had insect bites (2 spots on her arm) and she’s getting allergic reaction to them. My wife, who is a nurse, told her to take a picture & send it to us. The bites were swollen and redish but not so bad. She told us that her roommate put an anti-histamine cream and her friend across the hall gave her Allegra. It was a little bit late and the clinic and the urgent care were closed so she’s going to the clinic first thing in the morning but told her to call 911 if the allergy affects her breathing. Just few minutes ago, she texted us that the swollen and itchiness subsided. On top of it, she will have her first test (or prelim for Cornell) on one of her class tomorrow.</p>
<p>From the “Just when you thought things were okay” department…</p>
<p>I got a strange text from my S yesterday. Something about not having much time to spend with me over parents weekend. Now, wait a minute. I booked a flight, hotel and car, and I get that kind of text. Well, after several hours of back and forth e-mails and texts between my son, my husband, the older son and me, the information changed plenty and a crisis died down. It seems S’s fraternity decided to hold a retreat, and S thought they would leave early Saturday, which means I’d see him for only a few hours Friday. But, the departure time was clarified, and now we will spend Friday and Saturday together before I return home Sunday. We have all kinds of things planned, so I’m so glad this misunderstanding was straightened out. It will be so good to see him and find out all the things that he has been doing.</p>
<p>@tpcrd66 - Would it be too cliche to send flowers? Those cute fruit bouquets - edible arrangements - are another possibility. If you know her taste in clothes/accessories, perhaps a cute scarf? Judging from my D’s closet, one cannot have too many scarves.</p>
<p>@Agentninetynine - thanks for asking about D. Her vision and balance problems have resolved. She’s still tired and has headaches, but, thankfully, feels a little better each day.</p>
<p>My D got a small tattoo on her wrist shortly after her 18th birthday (without my prior consent). She’s glad that it’s easily covered by a watch or bracelet because she now regrets getting it and wants to have it removed. If only she’d listen…</p>
<p>Enjoying reading about all the great visits. I can’t wait until my D comes home on the 3rd!!</p>
<p>Ugh. I know that my D is going to get a tattoo when she turns 18. She’s had a folder of “tattoos I want” on her computer for about 2 years already. And my husband has tattoos, so it’s not like we can really tell her not to. We’ve both talked a lot about how permanent they are, etc etc etc. Ugh. her point is valid… just about everyone has them these days, here in the Northeast at least. So it probably won’t be a huge stigma, job-wise. But still… it’s such a permanent thing to choose at that age. I am 100% certain I’d regret a tattoo now if I’d gotten one at that age (which I did consider!) Can I just say “ugh” again?!</p>
<p>@oldmom4896 my oldest got her nose pierced freshman year. Then a tattoo sophomore year. Then another tat junior year . . . Thank goodness she started seriously thinking about grad schools where tattoos are seriously frowned upon or I fear she’d have sleeves or a big, giant thing on her back. I tried the “Remember 10 years ago when you liked frogs so much? Imagine if we’d let you get tattoos. How are you going to feel about the tattoos you have today in 10 years?” But I know nothing.</p>
<p>D’14 got a tattoo 2 days after her 18th birthday when older D got her second. Fortunately, it’s not visible in street clothes</p>
<p>DS has never been interested in tattoos or piercings and, from what I’ve seen, it is rare for students at his university to have either, at least ones visible when wearing typical clothing. It seems that in Houston, as in Austin, visible tattoos and piercings are much more popular with the community college students than with the university students. At Austin Community College, where DS took a few classes as a high school student, he said that the majority of students had tattoos or piercings or both. </p>
<p>My daughter’s tattoo is on her shoulderblade. It’s big–bigger than she told me it would be–but easily covered. She did reassure me that she had no intention of getting a nose piercing that would make her look like a farm animal.</p>
<p>Of course none of this is what I would advise, but what can you do. It’s not like I ever considered throwing her out of the house when she got the tattoo, less than 2 weeks after her 18th birthday. She did a ton of research, and had to wait because the selected tattoo parlor and artist wouldn’t talk to her until she was 18. And the friend she had selected to come with her and hold her hand was not allowed in the back of the tattoo parlor because her 18th birthday was the following week.</p>
<p>Of course the good news is that she’s enjoying college “a ton” and she said that all her grades are “over 90.”</p>
<p>@momreads - So glad your son figured out his schedule so you’ll be able to spend time with him!</p>
<p>@Overtheedge - Sounds like your daughter is on the mend. I’m sure it’s frustrating to her not to be able to participate in her sport but the rest is so necessary.</p>
<p>Re the tattoos and piercing - please no! I don’t think DD will get a tattoo as they’re not popular among her hometown friends. Plus, I don’t think she’d want to go thru the pain! Even DS’11 has shown no interest in one - neither of them like needles. I’m hoping for no extra piercings and no different color hair dye either. She’s so blonde that even temporary pink hair spray dye last year wouldn’t come out without special washing by the hairdresser.</p>
<p>But she’s having fun at school although she says it’s been hard to break into many activities. So may auditions and interviews and so many people want to do the same things she does. But none of her close friends have been successful either so she seems okay about that. I’m hoping they all get accepted to something soon so they’ll have something to do other than classes. But I really hope they all get something together so none are left out!</p>
<p>Our parents weekend went very well. D was glad to see us and S-11 came up for the day to join us for dinner. We only went to one scheduled activity with D but did spend some time on campus but most of the weekend was shopping for a few supplies and some groceries for the dorm room. D is making quite a few friends in class and now seems to have a new boyfriend that was a result of an orientation session called 30 second meet other freshman (like 2 minute speed dating but quicker and with no intent on dating). He is actually a very nice guy who in in the NROTC program and is majoring in Mech Engineering. She seems happy and busy. Other than a rough schedule with no lunch breaks two days a week, she seems happy and content with her school and classes. There have been some minor issues with the roommate but that is to be expected, particularly since the roomie is an only child and very used to her own way.</p>
<p>The only thing that is not good in Philadelphia is the traffic!!!</p>
<p>D is settling in very nicely at college. She made a soprano spot for a singing group which we are all really excited about. she trained to be a tour guide and was accepted so now she will be doing that and she says her classes aren’t as hard as she thought they would be. There is more work than in high school but it is manageable.she decided not to go for a sorority because she has the honors group and church group on campus and the rest of the clubs and activities so she didn’t want to overwhelm herself but might try for one next year.</p>
<p>and I am getting used to the fact that she is not here but I can’t wait to see her in October when she is coming home for a weekend!</p>
<p>Sorry to hear your daughter is blue @tpcrd66. I think any gesture: flowers, a card, a favorite cupcake or chocolate, will be welcomed. </p>
<p>It’s nice that you get to see your son @2014novamom. And even though he may not say it, I’m sure he appreciates that someone from the family is coming to watch his games.</p>
<p>@momreads - I cringed reading your post until I got to the end where it’s all going to be fine. Nothing like buying an airline ticket and booking a hotel to find out they’re not even going to be around. </p>
<p>Glad parents weekend was a success for you @AvonHSDad. Sounds as if your dd is happy, which is all we can hope for. </p>
<p>Congrats to your DD on the soprano spot @cakeisgreat! </p>
<p>Spygirl is filling up her calendar. She’s been appointed as a liaison to the student council, is working 10 hours a week, has a weekly radio show plus a ton of homework. She says she basically lives in the library, but I’m thinking much of that has to do with the excellent air conditioning. You all have had very early parents weekends. Ours isn’t for another month.</p>
<p>It took longer than I expected, but DD is sick for the first time at college. It didn’t take too long for her to dig out that first aid kit and find the cold meds. And not too much longer before she headed to the med center, only to be told to take more decongestant. I would have waited a bit longer before hitting the med center, but I’d rather she go too soon than too late. And she has friends! The kind that take care of each other…so good to hear.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the suggestions…what a difference a couple of days makes. As things would happen, my niece was invited to join the Dance Troupe when a girl decided it was “too much of a commitment”. I’m so happy for her and she is determined to prove she should have made the first string. What burns me up is they all knew the commitment at the tryout. Don’t tryout just “to see if you make it” when you really don’t plan to join/accept. They are taking the place of somebody who REALLY wants it!! I found a flower arrangement called “Jumping for Joy”…perfect! She will receive it today!! </p>
<p>I’m trying to figure out family weekend. We never went for DS’11 so I’m new to this like many of you. I looked at the schedule and it is mostly touristy stuff in town that we’re not particularly interested in. There is an Engineering open house and tour, at the exact same time as the honors college panel and open house, and those are the only two “events” that we’d have any interest in. I don’t think we’ll register because the events that are included in registration are Friday night and early Saturday, and we were thinking we’d drive up Saturday morning and just get the hotel for one night. But I’m thinking we maybe just want to grab our kid, take him off campus to eat (and shop if he wants, or whatever) and not really do the scheduled stuff. I dunno. What do most people do?</p>
<p>I don’t know what most people do, but we’re skipping the scheduled stuff. We figured we’d do it if he wants (it’s also homecoming weekend), but he says he doesn’t care and Disneyland is only four miles away. ;)</p>
<p>Checking in after a family weekend visit here. We didn’t do any of the scheduled activities other than the football game. We did tour a few famous classrooms on campus. We also ate at some good restaurants and generally relaxed.</p>
<p>DS seems to be adjusting well. He gets along great with his roommate even though they don’t do that much together. He’s trying to catch on with a club sport and works out a few times a week. </p>
<p>So far classes are going well. He’s had his first set of exams and thinks he’s done well. If anything, he could use a bit more challenge but his adviser only signed off on one honors class for this semester. This might be okay because he needs to find some research.</p>
<p>So after six weeks, the launch looks pretty good. The only hiccup we faced was a gas pain / gall bladder attack 45 minutes before our unloading time slot. It passed after about 40 mins but DS said it was the worst pain of his life. We were searching for nearest ER on the nav system when the pain started to subside and then disappeared for all practical purposes. But it’s been six weeks and no recurrence, so maybe it was related to nerves of moving in. He has a similar pain once before that lasted for more like 3 hours. </p>
<p>But so far, so good.</p>
<p>We just got back from family weekend. I think the scheduled activities are mainly there for times when your children are occupied with their own things, so you aren’t fending completely for yourself. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, S was able to spend less time with us than we expected. We got there on Friday afternoon, had lunch with him, took him back for class, and didn’t see him the rest of the night. The next day we met him around noon, went to his fraternity’s BBQ, and then lost him to the library for several hours. After that I took him on an Apple Store/Target run and we went out to dinner but that was it. He was supposed to meet S3 on Sunday morning to play some basketball but slept through it (much to his little brother’s disappointment). As for the scheduled activities, DH ran a charity 5K and I went to a faculty-parent reception (where I got to meet his bio prof) but we skipped everything else. </p>
<p>I still think of it as generally a nice visit because it was great to see him in his element and settling in so nicely, but it helps to have realistic expectations about how much time they’ll be able (or want) to spend with you. I can’t tell you how many exasperated parents I overheard saying some variation of “But we came all this way …”</p>
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<p>That could be a chronic appendix issue. I had chronic issues with my appendix for a couple of years before it finally went nuclear and I had it out. I didn’t realize the prior issues had been appendix except in retrospect, since they went away after having it removed. My DS’14 had pain in the right location for appendix and we took him to the ER and they did some imaging and said he had a small “stone” in there and they could give him some IV antibiotics and send him home, but that it would keep causing him problems intermittently until he had it out, so we had them remove it then. Anyhow… when you get him home, it might be worth asking about whether something like this could be going on with your DS, and if so hopefully he could get it removed at a “convenient” time. The recovery is really minor – my DS was almost as good as new within 24 hours, and back to fencing within the week.</p>