I spent my own prom night serving food at a soup kitchen in Portland, but I went to school in a super-wealthy suburb (my family were educators, not wealthy, but my dad grew up out there ages earlier) - it was one of the highlights of my year. @LKnomad - I feel for your sister. HS didn’t work AT ALL for me either - ADD, and a host of other issues. College was my salvation. My S has known that all along, and even in the pit of 7th grade would say “This will get better when I get to college.” It’s a good mantra. His HS is way better than mine, more accepting of everyone, really, but I wanted him to keep his eyes up through it all, and to keep going.
As I posted earlier, S16 went to prom with his GF15 least year, and that was enough ‘prom’ for him. I don’t remember what the tickets cost, but I do know that the school has a very strict no-limo and no-hotel policy, which helps. Students can also talk to the Community Life staff if prices are prohibitive, and they have a fund to help kids out. A group of them went together and a couple of parents did the driving over to prom. I picked up S and GF and took them to a 24-hour diner where they were going to get milkshakes, then her dad picked them up an hour later and dropped S off here at home. I think there was a website where some girls posted dress photos, but a lot didn’t, and it was fine. It’s really a live-and-let-live sort of place.
The boys here wear tuxedos so two rentals will be necessary unless we convince him to buy a great dark suit. I know his GF is planning on 2 dresses but she is a great shopper so I know they will be reasonable. It is the prom tickets that will be the worst.
When S09 went to the prom, her BF wore a tux, but S16 tells me a suit with a bow tie is what people are wearing this year. Either way, I think I’ll be spending some $$ soon. He has never wanted to do any of this stuff, but now that he has a gf he will be going to two proms! Surely he can wear the same suit right?
@labegg Wish S16 had a group of friends like you D16…gamers and computer nerds…right up his alley!
Magic and online gaming are his outlets from the daily/hourly/minute-by-minute stress of keeping up with it all! Not many friends that are at his level of academics and associated stress, or that de-stress through fantasy card games, flux, or online gaming. He is a bit of an outlier that way. However, he also will play scrabble, bananagrams, and other board games for hours!
Regarding prom…S16 will most likely avoid it like the plague! I don’t think he has gone to one dance during his HS career…why start now?
@2manybooks: “I spent my own prom night serving food at a soup kitchen in Portland…”
After my own heart, 2many, after my own heart. I think that is wonderful.
@readingclaygirl: Regarding simpatico, my younger daughter and you: She would find you quite likable for knowing the pace of your own pulse, and having your mom sew a dress to your tastes and desires. Younger is working diligently to eke out a design for her dress, which she will sew herself (as long as angels sit on her shoulders). On the whole, I think she’d respect you for a lot of what you shared with us here. So, simpatico.
@4kids2graduate - D16 takes after her Dad. They geek out all the time. Hubby is table top wargamer. D16 hasn’t quite taken up the mantel of old school gaming but definitely enjoys playing computer games to distress. Her argument for getting her the new Assassin’s Creed at Christmas was that it historically based and therefore a study aide. I haven’t developed an interest in gaming much beyond games Settlers of Catan, Alhambra or Carcassonne so my husband was thrilled when D took an interest.
D16 doesn’t have too much of an interest in the programing and mechanics of computers beyond what she need to know to fix kinks when she is playing, we call her the Assistant System Administer here at home and few things make her happier than when she can solve a computer issue quicker than her Dad. I think secretly one of the reasons she wants to earn her DPT is so that she can have a degree higher than her Dad.
Hopefully your S will find a gamer group in college?
@2manybooks My sister was very lucky in that she had a very talented high school counselor. The counselor decided that both my sister and the high school would be better off if she left a bit early, and she started college at 15. There she found like minded people, and became part of a Dungeons and Dragons group. I remember dropping her off that first day. The RA had put a farm animal picture on each student’s door with their name. I took a pen and drew a spiked necklace on her chicken. Needless to say, others found her very quickly with her punk chicken door sign. The rest is history. College really is a starting place for many.
@Mysonsdad no, it is actually an acceptance and invitation to apply for scholarship. I am very skeptical about my DD chances to get into UCLA and she knows my opinion on this. UCB admission is much more logical.
@Ballerina2016 So the invitation to apply that you mentioned the other night means they have been accepted? Oh wait, that was alumni, that doesn’t mean acceptance right?
@Ballerina2016 Oh well, S didn’t receive the Regents offer. Do you know how top 1.5% of applicants is determined? Do you know when Alumni Scholarships are announced?
@Mysonsdad Alumni scholarship is the one our kids got invited on Friday. Top 10% list from admission was sent to alumni association. Alumni sent those actual invites. Logically, since UCLA acceptance rate is 17% top 10% should be shoe in. But logic has nothing to do with UCLA admission.
@Ballerina016 and @mysonsdad. It looks like only one person said regents came out and it was a friend of a friend type thing. The rest are guessing tomorrow is the day. At least that is what I am seeing on the UCLA board.
Hopefully verification wont mess things up. Have not heard a final OK yet. I assume all is well.