We’ve been told to get our kids off their computers and out into the fresh air. Now we know that way lies madness. Stay at home, kids!
@SincererLove You pack for your teenager?
I don’t do ANY packing for S17. He has been traveling on his own for years. I do help with shopping & I did hand him the packing list for both trips and we discussed what needed to be purchased. He drives he doesn’t even want me along for most things. He went on a H.S. trip out of the country in June, and he is spending a month at a wilderness camp and he did ALL of the packing himself. If he didn’t pack a pillow, he gets to sleep on the ground without it.
And IMO the best way you can get your teen ready for going away for university is to let them do this themselves. They forget something, it’s their problem.
I guess I should tone this down a bit. My S17 has his own challenges. He will need hand holding to write the college essays. And moving to/from college is a different issue. I did do a fair amount of helping D12 this past spring to move her home from college on the other coast.
What is the Pokemon thing? D was playing it yesterday outside. Maybe I’ll look it up. She really doesn’t need another distraction. With full day water ski camp this week there is little time to write essays as it is and then she’s gone to another summer program for almost 2 weeks. The summer is going by so fast!
AoPS question. (Sorry I can’t recall who all was talking about this upthread… @Mom2aphysicsgeek ?) I had never heard of this and was interested after a google.
Are these books used as curriculum by whomever was talking about it? Could they be used as a reference/resource by a kid using a different book/curriculum? As in, would the AoPS calc book be a benefit to a kid who will be doing the standard HS/uni calc class with an issued textbook? Are they less useful if you haven’t used the earlier AoPS books?
@flatkansas Maybe the problem is taking the computer on the bike?! 
The vast majority of the kids taking AoPS courses are public school kids taking the equivalent course in high school. Their books,however, are unlike any public school textbook I have ever seen. My ds had no problem jumping into AoPS’s intermediate alg book after having used regular textbooks for alg 1, geo, and alg 2. I don’t understand the content of AoPS myself, so I can’t address how difficult it would be to jump directly into the cal book. Beyond my pay grade.
The AoPS forums are open to anyone. He could hang out and see what the thinks. They also have JAM sessions where they can ask questions.https://www.artofproblemsolving.com/school/mathjams
I can’t say enough good things about AoPS.
@curiositycat333 , D packed for herself while I was the overall quality control --make sure and check. Shouldn’t we assume that role any more? I feel bad and responsible as they are still under 18 and under our care. In this case, DH is there and they are getting a new pillow for her, so no harm done.
I don’t pack for my kids, but I do “remind.” The only thing I can think of in terms of college visits is to bring something appropriate for an interview if there is one. D did her first two interviews in t-shirts and jeans since we didn’t think about it for that trip. I doubt it really mattered, but I think it’s better to wear something at least a step above t-shirt. D only has one “nice” shirt, so I remind her to pack it! (Yes, she is a fan of the t-shirt – superheroes, math stuff, science stuff, martial arts, D&D, Dr. Who…)
No Pokemon stuff going on here. My kids were super-excited about the Steam summer sale (apparently a really big deal in the gaming community) and have a decent number of new PC games now.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, my niece got her masters in London and went to work for the government (intelligence related) right after. Heck, you can join the US Army without even being a citizen!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek DH brings up a valid point. As with feeder schools from HS to certain colleges, I would be concerned about whether the opportunities will be there after college. Not just from an international school perspective but even looking into which colleges (such as DC area schools) have an advantage. Your daughter sounds extremely bright and ambitious so I am sure she can pave her path into whatever she wants to do. It’s just a potential bump or detour in the road that needs to be weighed. For example, look into whether the international schools have the same type of internship placements with the government. Since your daughter is very advanced in Russian, would she consider pursuing a second language? (Apologies, I can’t remember if she is the student interested in both Russian and Arabic).
@STEM2017 Pokemon Go [-X Not happy about this here. Let’s hope this is first weekend excitement because it’s going to be time to travel back to the real world out of this virtual world real soon.
Yep, my kid use to be a super-kid before reading CC. She has just started packing for herself, and always wants M or D to check it over before she closes up the bag; she still needs fake-kid (aka McLovin) to send some emails to schools for her because her parents can’t wait to just get it done; her school research consists of talking to friends; she only has taken 3 APs 
It’s easy to get a complex around here!
JOTD:
Mark Zuckerberg walks into a bar …
and everyone inside becomes a millionaire, …
on average.
(Back in the day, that was a Bill Gates joke…had to update it for the times)
I swear there were a ton of things I was going to comment on but it moves so fast…I can’t recall.
** flights to wrong places**
I haven’t done exactly that but did book 2 one way tickets the same way so there was no outbound (I think) just 2 returns. That was a costly mistake and completely due to half of us having different travel dates and point of origins thanks to a soccer tournament. I did catch in time to fix but UGH.
Pokemon GO.
My kids have walked more this week than…I have no idea! And both do go out for walks on their own on a regular basis. I think it is a brilliant concept but can also see them walking into a tree…hopefully not a car. We have definitely chatted about safety! Apparently some girl in wyoming came across a dead body in a river (not a suspicious death though…allegedly…) but yikes! It’s definitely pulling in all age groups, lots of older teens, young adults.
@flatKansas congrats! That has to feel lovely.
packing for kids
I don’t do it either. I used to print them lists and they had to check off what they’d packed. I used to check their packing as well. I no longer do either, they’ve done it enough and they can deal with whatever they forgot (and have which has made for some interesting stories later but they do learn from it). For college I may help more than usual to be sure.
A pillow takes up space. Folded up clothes work just fine. LOL!
Packing
I am guilty of being a packer. I iron and organize everything, go over it all with my son, he pulls out a few items he doesn’t think he needs and then I pack it in his bags. If he had to pack, he could do it. In the meantime, I am happy to do it for him. He’s definitely picked up some of my packing skills along the way as is evidenced by the way his bags are packed on return.
Packing: I have taught both my daughters the fine art of packing everything in a carry on bag. They are both teenagers so they are on their own UNLESS there are unusual requirements. D21 recently had a week-long back country trip, so I did a backup check for that. I also vetted D17’s choices of interview clothing for our upcoming campus tours.
D17 started her common app essay today (no nagging)!
I just read that U of Chicago re-released their essay prompts changing prompt #5. It’s not on our list so I don’t know if this is accurate but mention it in case anyone that is interested wants to go back and check to make sure you have the most current prompts.
Pokemon Go: texted my D to ask her about it (since she’s our Pokemon fan). She says she hasn’t gone out much to try (100s lately) but she almost ran over someone who stepped out into traffic while playing.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek thanks for the aops feedback and the link!
@flatKansas I’ll add to the applause. =D> D14 loves K-State, but I doubt we’ll talk S17 into it even though it would be “their” school for only one overlapping year. We had a great personalized COE tour last fall, though it was too early to see much of the new facilities.
Packing: we’ve long had a rule that if it goes on your body, you’re responsible for remembering to bring it, which has led to soccer games played in last year’s cleats and begging extra gloves at softball tournaments. S does his own packing and I don’t QC, but he still asks for a copy of the general packing list I made up when they kids were much younger.
No flying into the wrong airports or college drama with grandparents here, although my MIL seems to believe most of her other grandchildren are getting"full rides" (substantial but partial-tuition merit scholarships)
Pokemon: I caught a purple snake! Went out walking with DC21, who was trying to figure it out. He didn’t know how to “catch” them and let me try throwing the PokeBall on his phone. Worked for me on the first try. He also saw other kids out playing the same game. He said you have to walk or bike 5 km to hatch an egg, so nice to have kids getting some exercise. Good of them to at least come out with it in summer; most kids aren’t the age to be doing college apps. DS17 had messaged DC21 to choose the red team, so I gather he is playing there too.
UChicago: The original prompt #5 was the essay that attracted DS’ attention. “If you had the power to obliterate any known truth for the sake of getting nicer results, what truth would you choose to obliterate and why?” We’ll have to see what he thinks of UChicago when they visit a local library in August.
Packing: For longer trips, I ask them about items on the checklist after the kids pack. I don’t pack. For shorter trips, the kids pack and live with any mistakes. (Or, I guess we live with having to buy things.)
AoPS: @flatKansas I don’t actually think the AoPS math books are formatted well as a “reference.” They are more of an extension beyond what is in the regular textbooks. Personally, I don’t think there is enough white space in the books, and I would do layout differently. It didn’t seem to bother DS too much. He only used the Precalculus book. He took 3 programming classes from AoPS, but those didn’t have textbooks.
FYI, I mentioned this back a few pages, and look what I found: A list of Fly Ins:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1893091-2016-fall-fly-in-programs.html
Not too many for those of us looking for merit, but others may be interested.
AoPS books can be used independently. There is no need to do another course with them. Ds never did. But most kids do simply bc they are dealing with a school system and they take the courses outside of the system and on their own.
@ynotgo Glad your Ds got to see his asteroid!
Packing: D has been packing for herself since around 9. She’s an overpacker like myself and rarely forgets anything. We’ve started our college shopping list (because I never buy anything that isn’t on sale).
Packing: I tell them what to pack and they are responsible for putting it in the bag… However… for vacations I pack for DH. He packs his own stuff for business trips but I do the vacation packing because he works too many hours and doesn’t need to be spending time thinking about many shorts or underwear to pack…
@Ynotgo - DS13 & D19 started playing Pokemon Go without talking to each other first so they are on different teams…