Parents of the HS Class of 2017 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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My DD is not a cook. She can make Mac and cheese but much prefers a frozen meal from Trader Joes, a pre-packaged salad, or getting a pizza or Chinese delivered! She gets that from me! LoL.

She has done her own laundry since 11 or so. I recently added a sub account on my bank account so she has her own debit card but she’s not so great at budgeting yet. She also has one credit card (added her onto a store account). She’s pretty independent but did have difficulties taking the bus the first few times (but does BART like a pro).

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D had to show her summer session roommate how to do laundry this weekend :slight_smile: She’s been doing her own for more than a year.

She can cook almost anything (a positive side effect of food allergies!) though she still gets squicked out by cracking raw eggs. I told her she has to start cracking her own eggs by September :))

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So I guess I’ve really failed that list because my soon to be senior in college still hasn’t made any doctor appointments on his own or called our insurance company…

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@MichiganGeorgia My D hasn’t done either of those either, but it’s on the list. We have almost a year! And, my list was a little tongue in cheek. She can cook more than Ramen :slight_smile:

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My DS has been doing (more like forced to) his own laundry since 4th grade. He and his mom weren’t happy about it. He stopped complaining after his 5th grade teacher complimented few kids who do their own laundry :slight_smile: Now, I am teaching him how to Iron his shirts (he loves to wear shirts instead of tshirts). He can make his own lunch using frozen foods.

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@MichiganGeorgia Oh, senior in college…I misread. Ahhh, who are we to judge?

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Not to brag or anything, but my kids are really awesome at making PBJ sandwiches and pouring themselves a bowl of cereal. Just like I used to live on when I was in college. No cooking. I survived!

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My D can keep the family fed for a week when I am away for business. She bakes for every occasion at school. But she is not a fan for laundry:)

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@2muchquan - lol. Oh well … I know my husband has never called our insurance company either, I’m always the one to call. too many phone trees and it’s irritating dealing with them. Kind of like the cable company.

As far as food good goes though. No problem there. DS likes to eat. So he makes himself lots of stuff.

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@payn4ward, wow, must have been surreal to see Hawking. I would have been tongue tied also. I totally remember slide projectors! I was a grad student so long ago that all my seminars used slides placed into a carousel. We were told many times, please number the edge that faced up, so if someone dropped the carousel (it did happen on occasion with slides scattering everywhere), it wouldn’t take an hour to put everything back in place. I think I still have my slides in a box somewhere…

I still feel like such a rookie on this thread! Have given no thought to dorms and pretty sure my D hasn’t either. I think having the bathroom being cleaned (even if they should all know how to do it) would be a desired perk. You all are making good points I need to note down (door stop!), because while my D is quite social, little hints like that are good to remember later. I’m sure she’ll love to go shopping for stuff to make her room comfy. I will try not to cry when we do that.

Have also not given thought to sending scores! We have them all except June Subject test. Guess we can figure out a plan to submit them.

Leadership: my D is not a traditional leader (not a president of anything), but she teaches dance lessons every Sat to kids about 6-12 years old (multiple classes) and has a lot of responsibility around that. She was able to be a volunteer TA at age 14 and now gets paid to be a teacher. She is so mature and has to handle questions from the parents, planning and teaching the choreography, helping encourage kids who sometimes don’t feel like dancing that day, etc. I have been in the waiting room while she has taught and it is quite impressive to see a side of her that I don’t normally see (just being in charge, confident, able to handle various situations). It has been a fabulous opportunity for her to both lead and learn and she loves it. I think with holistic admissions, one will never know if it was “lack of leadership” or some other factor(s) if there is a rejection. But you just can’t worry about it. I tell my D any college would be lucky to have her, but it just doesn’t work that way these days and she gets it.

Congrats to your D, @CaucAsianDad! Funny about the “blood test”!!

Life Skills: I tend to do too much I think, but that’s why I like summer programs for my kids. They at least have to do their own laundry and not just count on me to do stuff! They are quite capable, I just haven’t always pushed things. Neither of them really cook but they can survive with cereal/milk, frozen burritos, grilled cheese, salad bags, etc. That’s funny about the pizza, @IABooks. Perfect emoji!!

I’m impressed, @srk2017, good for your S. I hate ironing so much I try to get everything out of the dryer damp to hang out the wrinkles.

Ugh, totally hate this “Tufts Syndrome” thing and I have been wondering if UCs do this or not. Some threads seem to imply it, but it’s hard to know because we don’t see an entire application/essays. Add that to ED issues (UCs don’t do ED thank goodness), and financial aid issues, no wonder we all need each other! Too bad we can’t have a group hug!

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@RightCoaster nobody likes a showoff.

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Good golly over 100 posts to catch up on! I was having fun eating lunch and catching up with a friend I haven’t seen in 15 years but the consequence is catching up on this thread!

@itsgettingreal17 I love your trip plans! Can I come? I was wanting to take both my girls to Australia as a joint gift since they are just a year apart. I need to get the ball rolling on that since my D16 just graduated.

Re: leadership. D is captain of cheer team for two years (the first junior to ever be a capt - gotta fit that in on her ecs) and vp of natl science honor society. It’s not much and it won’t get her in, but she did what she wanted, not what she had to do.

@CaucAsianDad happy your D got all A’s! <:-P <:-P

@BusyNapping your name says it all regarding her progress on the CA essay. :)) =))

When I took my d16 to the doctor recently to get her health form filled out for college, I had her fill out all of the forms and she even got to sign them because she’s 18. She was like, mom, can’t you fill this out for me? It was nice to hand that baton over to her.

Both girls are pretty independent and can drive, cook, transfer $, clean, etc but I still do laundry. I will gladly give that up when D16 leaves for college in 2 months.

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@CT1417 Good news on Columbia dropping the subject tests. They seem so difficult and arbitrary, designed to gut a kid’s self esteem.

@CaucAsianDad Congrats on the awesome report card!

@dfbdfb Agree with you on ED. Also good to know about Muhlenberg, which is beginning to slide off the list for other reasons. Although I do appreciate their transparency about how they award merit aid.

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I was telling S, who sometimes gets so into his computer stuff he forgets to eat, that he has to remember to eat in college because the caffeteria is not open 24/7. He smugly told me not to worry because he can take the elevator down and walk the 3 minutes to the dining hall (at ASUs honor college) and be there before it’s closed. And I’m thinking that he’d have to remember to check the clock! I know he will survive, but I think the learning curve will be steep.

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Most applicants applying to Columbia are also applying to their peers who still have a requirement for subjects and will take them. My cynical view is that they will drive up the applications to Columbia for the upcoming year.

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My D will bring back yearbook today. I’m so excited! It’s fun to see all her classmates. When you compare their faces with freshmman yearbook, oh my, what a difference! (Well, some don’t change much…)

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Graduation gifts: We tend to do small things. Would like to do more, but we do as the budget allows. DD’14 got a quilt I made using a lot of her old sports and Odyssey t-shirts, but DS’15 didn’t want a quilt so we splurged on a camping hammock which he adores. He took it to school with him and spent time in the trees there, decompressing :slight_smile: .

We also gave each of them their first smart phone (used, but you do what you can!) and an external drive for their new laptops, which they had bought with graduation gift money. Looking here I’m afraid those gifts might seem too small, but the kids were happy and appreciative so that’s what counts :x .

However, DS’17 bought his own smart phone a few months ago and has no desire for a quilt. So we’ll have to come up with something else…decisions, decisions…

@payn4ward @canypava I still have my slides too! I presented my dissertation in 1996 and my department switched over to powerpoint the following year. I remember cutting and pasting (with REAL paper) those figures and then taking film photographs of them, to be printed as slides. Turnover was a couple of days. What a different world now.

On the essential skills: DS is fine with cooking and baking, and has been doing his own laundry for several years. He’s a confident driver and deals with his own banking. But he still needs lots of practice with talking to anyone one the phone so the doctor’s appt and insurance calls are not something he’s done yet. He hates, nay, loathes using the phone.

@CaucAsianDad Congrats! APUSH is a killer and how cool to ace it.

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@CaucAsianDad I was wondering about the name too. DS said once a caucasian kid and his parents are more asian than other real asians in his school. :)) Sort of paying attention to (obsessing over) grades and testings and doing best in everything. Their kids play string instruments in very high level and went to highly selective schools including Harvard. So their CaucAsian tiger parenting is working. :wink:

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@mdcmom @canypava I also heard about dropping a box full of computer program cards was a real program. I never saw computer programs on punched cards although I programmed on the (super) computers that were less capable than my phone. We really worked hard to make things work with 512 Kilo Bytes on our PCs. :))
I could not imagine having to typewrite a thesis :open_mouth: instead of using a computer and a typesetting software. :D/

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Grrr. Major drama here for my junior high graduate. Last day of 8th grade and she just learned she has a C+ in gym because she was absent last week when her class was running the mile. Ruined her perfect 4.0 for the year and was just a real let down because she worked really hard to do well in that class. She didn’t realize that she was supposed to go in after the fact and make it up. She tried to hold it together until she got to the car, but then she just lost it. My shirt is all wet with tears now. I’m angry because I think it’s ridiculous to get a letter grade in gym based on “performance” rather than attitude, etc. I mean, she was completely freaked out a few weeks ago about the bowling section because their score determined their grade! And last year she received a poor quarter grade b/c she hadn’t clocked enough steps on her assigned pedometer during the soccer unit (uh…because she was defense and her team kept the ball on the other end of the field the entire game!). I complained to the administration that time, but it did no good.

I’m all for accepting that not every kid can be good at everything. But it really bugs me that kids who are not as naturally athletic (or great bowlers!) can be dinged even when they try their best. They grade them on how fast they can run, for goodness sake!

Ok, rant over. I think. It just wasn’t a good way to end the year for her.

On another topic, you made me smile @mdcmom with your last post. I defended my dissertation in 1999, with an old school slide projector. I well remember the numbers on the slides and the disaster of having them fall out of the carousel. As well as the cutting and pasting of figures, and then the long turnaround time to get the slides. I hadn’t thought of that for years.