I just love having our daughter home. I sometimes find myself sad that this will probably be the last summer like this. When I looked at the Instagram photos of the graduation at her school it brought tears to my eyes realizing that if the next three years go as fast as this year, that event is not far off.
I am loving talking with her and learning about her boyfriend. We are so looking forward to meeting him this summer when we go on vacation in the states.
@NorthernMom61, I commented recently to friends that I didn’t realize how much I missed my daughter until she was home again. It is truly wonderful it is to have her here, even for a short time.
I also had that same feeling that graduation will come too fast.
D finished moving out and into a storage unit by herself (getting by with a little help from her friends with cars!) She discovered that someone has “mistakenly” taken her bike from the bike storage locker. He school has a pretty heavy duty honor code and she thinks a parent may have picked it up by mistake. Luckily for me I took out the dorm insurance for her. It covers bikes up to $500. I wonder if the helmet, gloves, and lock are also covered. She is spending a week at the beach with friends, coming home for a week, and then heading out for a 2 month internship. Busy busy!
After almost 2 weeks at home D is a much more relaxed human. Grades are in and while not as high as she would have liked there is nothing less than a B and that’s with 6 classes. Still working on finding a job, though…
@albert69 … Great job on the freshman GPA!! <:-P
D stated the first day of her 2 month internship across the country from us today! She will be working 40 hrs/week, plus cooking and cleaning for herself. Something she has not done yet. I can’t wait to hear her impressions.
Congrats @albert69
Sounds like your daughter is growing up nicely @mtrosemom, hope she has a great summer.
DD got a 3.92 for her Freshman year! Very proud of her, especially because at her college good grades are hard to get. She’s in the top 10% of all freshman (and top 8% in her major, I believe). It’s not that she’s naturally so super smart, but she just studies really hard, which I admire all the more. She adamantly refuses to let me tell anyone about her grades–she doesn’t want to raise expectations among friends and relatives, plus she doesn’t want her friends at college to find out and feel bad if theirs are lower. But I can put it here since no one knows who she is 
Congratulations to your girl @insanedreamer, we will keep it secret.
I’m so proud of my D as well. She and her longterm boyfriend have worked extremely hard this past year and received excellent grades, while still making time for each other.
She also got the job she applied for and starts today.
DS was home for a week and then back to campus for some work. I had asked him if the college was right choice and he said - without a doubt! He thinks he made the right call. He also commented that “fit” was important and he found his in this university. Interesting comment coming from him - since he always derided that in a 2 hour visit you cannot gauge how the entire college is! I asked him if he could have “guessed” the fit and he still thinks no. So, I guess, in his opinion, it is a hit or miss. Sharing here since it may help feel better for those thinking transfers - since there does not seem to be a way to determine the fit anyway - at least according to him!
He had been independent for a while before he left the nest but I think his professional growth has been tremendous! He also seems to enjoy the crowd at his university. Many are driven, multi-faceted and not simply grade grubbers! He said, there were folks who were so passionate about what they wanted - that it rubs on you too! He is choosing to be with these people - even if it has nothing to do with what he wants to do. I just hope this continues over next 3 years!
Major related choices - pretty much narrowed down!
@suzy100 - Had a good laugh about the dirty dishes comment! Kids say the darndest thing!
Not to discount a 4.0 GPA (good job albert69!), but my son managed to get off of probation and will go back to college in the fall.
Let’s hope he gets it this time - major difference was that he had study groups for every subject, and he used Google Calendar to help him keep track of assignments and when he was supposed to study. He also started playing two sports which was good for him to get away from classes for a while.
A question for those whose kids work - do you have a good link about how much they have to make to file taxes? Also, if we put money in his bank account, that just counts towards a total gift for each year (we will NOT be giving him $14,000 this year!), not as income, right?
@rhandco Congrats to your son. It’s not unusual to have a rough start, and good for him that he figured out what he needed to do to be successful.
Hopefully 
We were worried he would get off probation but be ineligible for FA, but he got over overall the threshold to keep his financial aid. I feel like kids should have some skin in the game, and we hadn’t decided what to do if he lost his student loans but was still enrolled.
rhandco, don’t worry about putting money in your son’s account. The recipient does not pay taxes on a gift. A donor would only pay if you exceed the lifetime limit of $5M. If a donor gives more than $14k to one person in a year, there is a form required for record keeping purposes only - no tax due. Income is income, a gift is a gift.
As for income, it is at $400 and above. There are many times the taxpayer isn’t required to file (no taxes owed or refund expected), and some other exceptions. I’ve found that even when my kids weren’t required to file, we filed anyway because it is easier to use the FAFSA DRT than submit the non-filer forms. Filing is free so why not?
It is great to read that kids are doing well, no matter what the measure. Hope and moving forward are really what is important.
I miss my D again 
She was here for 3 weeks and we had a terrific time together, but now she’s back at school for an internship for 9 weeks. I’ll get a month at the end and am thinking to do something really fun and cool for a bit of that time.
He just got asked to send in verification, so yes, it was probably because he didn’t file. However, his job is contract, so I have no idea how he should file for that. No tax forms whatsoever.
My D had babysitting income last year and reported it as self employment income, she also had W2 income from a job and taxable scholarships.
Did your son have any grants or scholarships that exceeded tuition, fees, books? That would also be reportable income.
Absolutely not, we pay a lot
I don’t know why I am worried about the verification, when the school has the FAFSA with autofill from the IRS for us.
The verification form itself looks like it was put together by a HS student in their first two weeks of “How To Use Microsoft Word”.