We are knee deep in grad party planning here. We are having it a couple weeks before graduation due to scheduling conflicts. His grad ceremony is late evening and nephew is also the same day with a different school. Ultimately decided having it earlier would make it easier on more people to attend. Having a cookout at a local park. Expecting 75-100 people. That’s a lot of burgers.
@VAMom23 I remember this from when DS went off to college - its stressful - everyone, parents, students, siblings, the pets and family friends can “feel” the change that is coming and everyone is a bit on edge in some way. Even those who are chomping at the bit to go (my DD). When the reality comes right down to the wire, everyone knows that life as we have known it is no more, it is about to change and even tho its a natural progression, its still hard to step over that threshold to the next level of growing up.
Our DD was 10 when her brother left for college - yep, that first year was rough. Her built in buddy was no longer and it was tough.
Its okay tho, he came home for Grad School, she was then 15 and suddenly had to go back to sharing a bathroom LOL OMGosh, the sibling antics after being an “only” child for 5 years had DH and I rolling our eyes at them, a lot!
@traveler98 Interesting - I was told the attendance policies were set by the state of Texas not the local districts.
@havenoidea , if your kid is one who matches effort to the level of those around him, pick the school where that will be highest. He’s clearly not driven to stand out (how refreshing! ) but having o th hers around who are will help. And late blooming boys – yeah, that’s a thing! Good luck!
We have zero family around for a graduation celebration. I plan on having a small cake and a few gifts like t-shirts/lanyard, etc. from the chosen college.
What else can I do to make it more special? Our graduation is on a weeknight, so I thought about inviting a few high school friends and taking them all to dinner the day before. So many kids will have family in town, though, that it may not be feasible.
@snowflakedogmom, I know S’s school district receives full state funds (partially related to attendance) so the attendance policy can’t be out of compliance with Texas rules. There may be room for districts to interpret what counts as an absence though. For instance, this semester S has missed six days of school: three due to illness, two for a school-approved EC trip to Washington D.C. for his JSA club, and one for a school-sponsored senior day for his STEM program. The only missed days that count as officially “absent” are the three days he was sick. If he had not been sick he would have been considered to have perfect attendance. In fact for both freshman and sophomore years he received perfect attendance awards despite missing at least ten days of school each of those years for various school-sponsored events such as cross country meets and science fair.
))))))
Whoops sorry!!!
Absolutely zero formal grad celebration plans here. S looked at me as if I’d gone out of my mind when I asked if he’d like a grad party. We have no local family, and none of the family is flying in for graduation. So any party would have just been for his friends and that idea was a complete non-starter for S.
@Traveler98 I am sure that interpretation is a big part of the attendance lunacy 
Anything school related was always excused and never a blip on the radar. My DD was an athletic trainer all thru high school - it never ceased to amaze me that her coaches could pull her from all classes for a 3 day basketball tournament but I had to fight tooth and nail to get a day excused for a college visit. I usually had to fight back with the coaches and not allow those long tournaments as she was the only trainer that was an IB student and she really could not miss several days in a row. Sometimes the priorities of things astounded me.
Then the whole make up scenario was just a joke - the kids had to make up hours when they exceeded a certain number missed and its not like they made up math hours with math hours - they made up missed math hours by mowing the fictitious neighbors lawn or helping the French teacher sort papers or working an unscheduled Athletic Training event. This was just silly
I am soooooo glad to be done with public schools and all their weird rules from attendance to dress codes, done, done, done LOL DONE! Between my two kids we spent 23 straight years in public schools.
My DS always had excellent attendance, DD, not so much, never has.
@chercheur we didn’t have family either - I took her for a spa day - nails, toes and a massage. My Father In Law died 3 weeks prior to DD’s graduation - with all the travel back and forth from our respective homes to make final visits and then the funeral, everyone in the family was tapped out on travel funds/time off and could not then attend DD’s graduation. I felt so bad for her, it was just us (Mom, Dad, Brother) so we had a fancy dinner out, and her favorite cake at home. We hosted a small open house for her friends to stop by (I mean small, 3 friends stopped by) as noted, everyone has something going on and its hard to have an event.
Thanks for the replies @traveler98 and @SnowflakeDogMom
I think we’ll just do a nice dinner out as well!
My S has a birthday in the summer so we will probably combine it with a graduation party.
My son just got an outside scholarship interview! Now what? We’re clueless on preparation
Congrats!
–Have him dress up in a suit or nice slacks, jacket and tie.
–Google common interview questions. We had 3 scholarship interviews, and they all asked common questions.
–Make sure he knows and can explain everything on his resume or application (in a concise manner).
–Research the scholarship provider so he can make his answers tie in with their goals/mission.
–Have a question or 2 ready to ask if prompted (something basic like when will I be notified of your decision or what is your best advice for a college freshman)
–Practice a firm handshake and having eye contact while speaking
–Remember to smile
–I think it is OK to take a nice folder with extra resumes if he’s interviewing with a committee. If they already have copies, fine, it still makes him look prepared. He can also have a sheet of paper with his questions in the folder to refer to.
–Send a thank you after the interview
D got some swag in the mail today. One college sent a mug with her name on it filled with candy and another a box of confetti, balloons, and pennant. She seemed to get a kick out of it.
Tge conversation that followed made it clear she thinks we are steering her toward full-tuition rather than what she wants. 
@MACmiracle that’s fun! The conversations are stressful though. We’ve had a few.
@MACmiracle What they “want” is not often what we can offer. Full tuition is a gift, a blessing and obviously a school saying “we want YOU!” I know how tough it is right now in your shoes, hold strong, its tough, really tough. DH and I almost caved and then I looked at the numbers and just knew, I couldn’t do it, we had to stick to our guns and say no.
My DD struggled a bit at first, thinking she was settling and then over time, her attitude has adjusted, she now see’s the gift of her merit as she plans study abroad and is looking at medical school. Not having undergraduate debt will make a significant impact on young adult life.
I viewed us saying no to co-signing as a gift to her as well. She may not see it now but I know down the road, someday she will thank us for not signing her up for years and years of huge loan payments.
This week and next week are KILLING ME!!! Just waiting, waiting, waiting!! I am pacing around!!! (I literally went to my boss yesterday and said, please, give me extra projects, send me to visit remote offices … ANYTHING to help me make it through to May 1!)
When we visited for Admitted Students day. we met with a financial aid advisor who advised us to appeal our financial aid award. Okaaaaay. So D18 sent in the appeal before the April 15 deadline. So now we are waiting for their decision wrt the appeal. It is driving me crazy. For two reasons. First, I mean, couldn’t they have just given us their best offer to begin with, rather than essentially telling us to go stand in line yet again and resume this posture of waiting, waiting, waiting for yet another answer from them?? Second, until we have final numbers, I cannot move forward on financing options. We have to have the money by early August. Do we go with a student loan option? Do I proceed with a home equity loan? Will I have to have the house appraised and if so when and can I get it cleaned up in time, all while tip-toe-ing around the house quietly so as not to disturb D18 as she prepares/studies for her final I.B. Diploma papers/exams in early May?
In other words, I need to chill and just let these days pass. It is too soon to apply for a loan. It is too soon to click “yes” on an acceptance offer. I have to just sit tight. I have to let time march on. Just let the days flow by.
I hate this. Is this happening to anyone else and is it making you batty?
@MACmiracle
Having had that very conversation, I wish I could tell you there is some easy answer. You already know there isn’t.