Sorry if I triggered any of that - I of course meant healthy for us. Did not mean to imply a universall generalization that all night owls are unhealthy. And I am no morning person! Nor is my mother. Nor is my daughter. For me (51), for example, as a very well practiced night owl and as a lifelong agent of entropy,(oh no, I’ve revealed our secret super power - Agents of Entropy), I just know that things get bad for us if we don’t have some sunshine every day and some externally supplied structure. When my kid does the night owl thing, you can forget about waking up at noon. She literally will go weeks without ever seeing the sun. I’m serious. It’s kinda freaky. I would be thrilled if she would actually get up by noon. Or even an hour before sunset. Seriously. So, I was just applying those comments to our own foibles and concept of “healthy”.
@icbihtsu I get it, no harm taken. I could go months without seeing the sun and that would be OK. Funny how we all do function differently.
I was wondering, does UCLA have a parents Facebook page for accepted students? This group has been such an amazing group and would love to have something similar for parents of the college my child is going to.
@msatoor, UCLA does have a facebook page for accepted students - google UCLA class of 2022. Oddly (to me) it is public and anyone can see it, whether or not they even have a facebook account, let alone join the group. Many students are on it looking for roommates and there is a time-senstivie element to roommate selection.
It’s not exactly correct that “AP exams are spread over two weeks” - that is, they are but it is not true for individual students’ exams.
The College Board does not care about students who have two exams in one day, or one after another. AP Calculus BC is often offered with AP Physics C, and they are consecutive days.
My son is taking AP Calculus AB and AP Computer Science A, and they are the same day.
There are a few AP exams at the exact same time, and in that case, the College Board will allow the student to take one of the exams in the makeup time period.
An update…after a very long hiatus.
Good news - DS18 got into two colleges, and picked one. Bad news, he just does not seem ready/mature enough. Good news, it’s close by at least.
Good news/bad news - he is getting very decent FA, but he has to maintain a 3.0 GPA. I really do not know if he can even with support services we will be paying for through the college.
@labegg, similar situation here. Family and friends flying in for end of May, then orientation in early to mid June and before long it’s July. Somewhere in July will be a family trip, so S will hopefully squeeze a job in there somewhere, but it’s going to be tight. We’ve got plenty to do at home, a basement to be cleaned out (oh that’s right. I’m supposed to do that BEFORE family arrive for graduation :-)!
@icbihtsu, Disney sounds like fun and a great thing for D to look forward to after senior year along with the reality of the final clean out! @traveler98, seems like it’s a good idea to let em catch up on sleep, but also encourage exercise!
@stemmmm, I like the idea of having your S take out the trash and walking the dog. Great start. I know my DW also plans some lessons on basic cooking and food prep!
My S17 pushed off getting a job so long last year that no one would hire him. I think that was a secret “plan” all along to enjoy his “last” summer. S18 in contrast picked up two jobs last summer easily 60 hrs per week total. S17 wound up having to do the driving for S18 because I have only one additional car. So, even though he wasn’t working, he had to get up at 5 or 6 a.m. to drive his bro to work. :)) S18 quit the grocery job a month after school started, and kept the 25+hr a week restaurant job until the last week of March. His debate schedule, college visits (we did them all post acceptance) and school schedule (6 APs) were going to require him to miss several weekends of work. He may pick up PT work for the summer, but he banked a lot last year, managed a 4.5 all year with the job, classes, and debate so I’m ok if he takes a break this summer. S17 is taking a class at the community college tnd is looking at two jobs and is already looking at work for next semester when he goes back to campus. Some kids take a bit longer to catch on…
Anyone considering going on the road with their DC in the summer, just you and them? I had talked about it with my DS18, and he seems to think it is a definite, but it’s iffy. I wonder if there are any resources for traveling with a young adult, especially if we meander in the US, mainly Northeast/Midatlantic region.
Thanks!
Down to the last five weeks of high school for DS. Graduation is five weeks from Saturday!
If not for an abundance of snow days it could have been a couple of weeks less.
@rhandco Congrats on the good news part. Can he enroll at 12 credits to try and keep things manageable? It may mean longer schooling which may cost extra, but be better than crashing?
I can understand our C18s wanting to make the most of their transitional summer and take some time off! No pressure to pad the resume, no summer homework. But I also get that letting down too much could establish some bad habits. It’s a tough line to walk.
My D is motivated by social connections. She’ll be going to early morning swim practices over the summer, not because she wants to swim, but because that’s where her friends will be and she wants to maximize her time with them. A sweet, high-paying part-time summer job fell into her lap, so she’ll do that, too. Beyond that, I see D spending lots of time hanging out with her friends and lazing around the house. It should be the right balance for her, I think.
D’s college doesn’t do the whole pre-orientation meet with an advisor thing, so tonight I looked over the course catalog with her and helped her figure out a reasonable schedule for her first semester. She can reach out to an advisor via email to make sure it all looks good. Registration is in mid-June.
I’ve joined the college parent pages on Facebook and they are tremendously helpful.
@labegg, that’s a great point you made about trying to find work in-between other commitments that are already scheduled. Who’d really want to hire someone for just a few weeks? That’s only enough time to get trained at something & then head off to school. What employer is going to sign-up for that?
My D is already signed-up to attend a one-week leadership program in June, and a former teacher has also hired her to tutor her kid over the summer. I guess those things will keep her busy enough & still give her time to relax and unwind a bit. Also, she’s a pretty responsible kid & always does her share of the chores around the house without complaint.
I think her summer schedule will fit nicely with the formula: some time for fun & relaxation with some other productive events mixed-in.
No work for my D this summer, again. The timing just won’t work as others have mentioned. She doesn’t graduate until mid-June then we have the movers coming the following week, then we’re road tripping to Texas, then we’ve got a couple of mini-trips planned, and she starts back up mid-August. She may try to get some babysitting in if she can but that’s about it. But she’ll be plenty busy helping me unpack! :))
Yes @rhandco I do plan to do a road trip this summer with both my D18 & my D22. I don’t know about resources specifically for planning with a young adult in mind, but Roadtrippers.com is a good overall road trip planning resource. I personally always use AAA triptiks (combined with old-fashioned paper maps!) but I think they definitely aren’t the most user friendly, though I think they’ve done some upgrading. I LOVE road trips and have done many, many over the years. I don’t know what it is because I actually hate all the driving I do regularly, but put me behind the wheel on a road trip and I can happily go all day every day! This time will be fun because D18 will be able to share the driving load, so I can play more road trip bingo! 
@rhandco we have somewhat regularly travelled one on one with our kids. These trips provided some of the highest points in parenting for me. My soon to be 18 year old and I are going on a big trip in June. My husband and 19 year old went on a big trip last summer. I say go for it. You won’t regret it.
I don’t know about special resources. At this point they seem old enough to not have to worry too much to catering to their age. Find things that interest you both and head out.
@1822mom, those paper maps come in handy if/when your GPS goes out, phone loses signal, car charger goes out, phone loses battery, or if you just want to hold a map in your hand like a book! We love roadtrips and would happily have our S help drive if he didn’t fall asleep fifteen minutes after we get going, after lunch, or after bathroom breaks… Agree @SnowflakeDogMom, our kids are freaking tired after the last four years (especially this last year) and they deserve a break before embarking on four more years! That being said, hoping with school out and no homework or books to read in the car, he will help with the driving this summer :-).
D has had a job since October 2016. Worked a lot last summer and saves 50% of each paycheck. She sells her old clothes at Plato’s Closet and sells other items on Varage Sale. We are big savers but I created a monster Just kidding of course. I am glad she has already saved enough spending money for 2 years. Her goal is to have 3 years in the bank by the end of summer. I should add we made her save 50% of all birthday and Christmas money received since she was 5.
My D certainly has some senioritis - seems to have lots of dr appts lately! :-c I really don’t mind as she finished another DE class and like many of your kids is getting ready for a bunch of AP’s. She is going to try her luck at the Calc CLEP test this weekend which will allow her to drop her Calc AP test as results are immediate so fingers crossed.
Also missing a few days of school for Bama Bound Orientation end of May. Exciting times ahead and she plans to go early for a special freshman camp (Camp 1831).
Summer is up in the air - I’d like her to work ( a little), or volunteer - she will likely knock out an OT prereq (Human Anatomy) over the summer (that is work in my book). Hope she finds lots of fun this summer as it is well deserved.
Great group of kids in our Parents of 2018 group - so impressed with everyone’s school choices - must have some wonderful parents!
I do not read the HS Class of 2018 thread, but if I did, I bet I would find a post along the lines of the following:
“I’m not even finished APs, but Mom keeps getting on me about a summer job. Talk about soiling the nest, man.”
For those of you with later registration dates, I suggest checking the portals for possible openings in earlier sessions. DS had a mid-July slot but I kept checking the portal every day to change his NSC date and it would show availability. As other students’ plans changed, earlier dates opened up and he lucked into session 1 which is May 30-31.
Thankfully DS has been working part-time since July as a checker at the grocery store. They are super flexible and he is going to keep his evening/weekend shifts. It will give him some structure at 25 hours per week, but he can still play Fortnite or go out with friends after work and sleep in late in the mornings. He has asked off for 1 week June vacation and will do Impact Retreat and Fish Camp for TAMU. He will probably tell them his last day is July 29 and then he will have 3 weeks (including Fish Camp) to get ready for Aug 19 move-in. The store has already told him he can work there as little or as much as he would like during the month he is home for Christmas and next summer.