@ItsJustSchool I noticed the same thing. And the biggest offender hasn’t even started the process yet. Her 19 child is her oldest. We old timers know nothing and are basically Neanderthal Cretans . Shaking my head. May need to check out before graduation
@palm715 recipe please! The last vegan “cake” I made was a cake-shaped watermelon with a whipped coconut cream-based “icing” decorated with berries (pro tip, try pineapple instead for that “Bundt look.” Coconut and Watermelon are not really complementary flavors).
I have made great vegan pancakes and biscuits, but the arrowroot egg substitute- what works to be fake egg in a real cake?
I’m kinda of sorry I jumped into the fray on the class of 2019 thread. I was trying to be helpful. Oh well. I meant well.
@mom23travelers A little tense, huh?
Agreed re: 2019. As my kids would say, these people need to chill!
Now you all have me so curious I will need to go read it. Something to do during my Ds college orientation.
As graduation approaches, we have realized that we have another issue to address. Graduation checks are beginning to roll in and so far the ones he has received are WAY too generous. Any thoughts on the best way to handle this ?
@carolinamom2boys I know I’m just a kid but over the years various relatives have been overly generous. All you can really do is make sure your S writes a really nice thank you note. Senior skip day is tomorrow here and I’m skipping although I’m not doing anything fun. I just got a mole taken off my arm and it hurts!
What do you mean by too generous? if someone wants to make a gift to your son and is able to do so, why is that a problem? An enthusiastic “thank you” letter to the donor and an appreciation of your good fortune should be all you/your son need to do.
I’m not so concerned about relatives @readingclaygirl , but a neighbor sent a check for 50.00. That’s excessive for the level of our relationship .
My former neighbors, who moved away years ago, sent my son a $100.00 Visa gift card. We were quite shocked. They were very nice neighbors and liked him a lot. My son sent a nice thank you note and we will also call them soon.
@carolinamom2boys I would just invite that neighbor for dinner and pick up the tab. You also have option of not cashing this check.
I think not cashing the check could mistakenly signal that the gift was not appreciated. I like the idea of inviting the neighbor to dinner or doing some other nice gesture that lets the neighbor know the the thoughtfulness of sending a gift (regardless of the amount), was very much appreciated. That is in addition to a thank you note of course. 
@carolinamom2boys -Maybe your DS could take a homemade treat & the thank you note over to the neighbors & personally thank them?
Sitting in graduation practice. It’s all very real.
I would just send a nice thank you note and not worry about the size of the gift. Everyone has a different level of what is a lot of money to them- and I’m sure giving that gift made them happy. We had a few surprise checks, too.
Graduation practice is like herding cats . Suddenly everyone has regressed to kindergarten
I agree…everyone has their own idea of what amount is an appropriate gift…it is an individual decision. A very appreciative thank you (with possible baked good that accompanies the thank you) would be the best course. Pay it forward at some point in the future!
Haha @carolinamom2boys thanks for the laugh while I am in pain. But I can imagine- getting people to sit for an assembly is like herding cats and incredibly annoying that people can’t just sit where they are told!
I’m thinking that the neighbor either feels that your son is really special, or is paying it forward themselves @carolinamom2boys . Or both! With S14 we felt bad that some friends and neighbors gave a small cash gift to each student when we invited them to our neighborhood potluck party for six graduates. This time (four graduates) we have clearly put on the invites NO GIFTS. If people choose to give a gift anyway, we will be appreciative, but we do want people to know it is not expected at all.
We have survived the last day of school, now let’s see if we survive the annual Memorial Day camping trip when we don’t really have proper time to pack, need multiple departure and arrival times due to other commitments, and can never get the cover to stay on the kayak on top of the car. Hard enough during a normal year but this year we have graduation the day after we come back.