My kids both girls D18 and D21 do their own laundry…can cook their own breakfast and lunch if need be, they clean their own bathroom and bedroom although not enough…that said my wife mostly cleans the house except their rooms, I do all the yard work.
D18 doesn’t do much/any of that and has always been a picky eater … literally since the day she was born. She had to spend several hours after delivery in the pre-NICU room because she wouldn’t eat (she was both early and low birth weight)! However, this year she has really expanded her diet in preparation for college and is learning how to cook some things.
When she has to do something she’ll knock it out of the park. If not, well, it can wait.
D18 has been doing laundry since she was 12, vacuums, cleans bed and bathroom. She can also cook pasta, chicken tacos, and loves to bake. She is very responsible with money and saves half of her check. I told her I wanted to teach her how to sew a button before leaving this fall. She told me she would watch YouTube instead if she ever needed to sew one on…
Working on boxing stuff up as we prepare to move (in less than 2 weeks!) and came across the inevitable box of pictures. Am I crying? I’m not crying! You are!
…
It was the dust!
…
This is going to be an emotional frickin’ week.
Dropped DD at the airport at 4 this morning, she headed off to orientation. She arrived, took Lyft to campus and was checked into her dorm room. Due to arrival time because of distance, she is a day early so she ordered up dinner to be delivered and has been hanging out with the student orientation team.
She was really excited and I can’t wait to hear all the details.
My S19 can do it all, vacuum, laundry, cook, change the oil in the cars…D18 can do laundry. She would live on ramen and fruit in a can if I didn’t cook and she isn’t at all bothered by a messy room. But they both have jobs and ECs and homework that generally take all their time. They go out on Fridays and the occasional weekend activity. They are expected to help on the farm when needed.
It’s really hard to teach cooking to someone who really doesn’t care about food!
DD is basically done with school now. Seniors with good attendance can sign up for a program that excuses them from class to do an internship or paid employment for the next two weeks. Since DD got a job, she qualified even though she usually works at night. Last day of class for seniors is June 6 so that means she technically has 2 days of class when the program is over but nobody really cares at that point. Graduation is June 13 but that week in between is filled up with rehearsals, class trip, etc.
Graduation week here. Full days today and tomorrow and then here and there Wed and Thurs. Senior awards tonight and final band concert tomorrow. A wind down to Saturday.
DS was awarded a scholarship at church yesterday, will be presented with a local scholarship tonight and will receive another scholarship at the concert tomorrow, amount unknown. A pretty nice ending.
S has to turn in all of his textbooks today, so whatever else is happening learning-wise won’t involve a textbook. 
AP Lit is finishing up Hamlet. Calc is playing math games. Theater is prepping for various awards nights.
We’re leaving Thursday night for an annual Memorial Day camping trip. When we leave the campground, we drive to ABQ for his orientation, and then we visit the Grand Canyon on the way home. S will miss 5 school days, and once he’s back, he only has three days until graduation.
I’m looking forward to the camping trips, esp. because we’ve never seen the Grand Canyon before. 
But in my heart of hearts, I’m relieved that S will miss so many days. Who knows how shooters pick their dates, but I would imagine that if someone is thinking about doing a shooting, that the coming end of the school year puts some time pressure on them, and that’s why I’m relieved that S will be gone for a significant portion of his final days in HS. :-S I haven’t voiced this to him because I want this time to be a positive as possible for him - but boy am I sure feeling it. Sigh.
Am I over-reacting? Well, yes, but remember that we’ve already been through one shooting / bomb scare, and a gas leak. My brother was part of hostage / SWAT situation at that elementary school in Riverside, and while I didn’t have family members at the San Bernardino shooting, it wasn’t at all unusual for them to have been in that particular office. On a different day, one of us could easily have been there.
Cop families have it way worse, but this must be how they feel.
S just got his yearbook. The text under his photo says he will be attending University of Mexico. /facepalm
On the upside, I hear it’s a great school.
@DiotimaDM Crikey!
@DiotimaDM omg! University of Mexico. That is almost funny.
I’m not sure if this story is apocryphal but I read of an applicant from New Mexico who had been denied admission to medical school because this particular school did not accept foreign students.
Yeah, there are stories of people from New Mexico having all sorts of trouble because some functionary doesn’t realize NM is a US state. Border problems, people getting denied for Social Security, etc.
S is taking it well. He thinks it’s funny. Darkly funny, but funny.
@DiotimaDM: wow!
I went to college in NM. People in my home state often asked if I needed a passport. #-o
Good news here! My 20 year old son, adopted internationally four years ago, passed the final GED exam today. That English test is brutal for English language learners, and my S has never even been exposed to English until five years ago. Big, big win for him. He has applied to a local state college. If accepted, I will be sending TWO birds out of the nest in August. All of the feels! :(( 
:D/
@ShrimpBurrito That is such exciting news about your S! Congratulations!
@DiotimaDM I love New Mexico. Albuquerque is a great city. And then you have
Taos and Santa Fe within an hour or so. Taos is a world class ski resort. Lots of awesome gold courses.
All great places to visit and live.
@DiotimaDM I hear you about worrying about your kids and being glad you are missing several of the last days of school. For me, my worry revolves around drinking. Worry 1, one of her classmates will be stupid and drink and drive. Worry 2, one of her classmates will bring drinks or drugs to a party where she is, cops come, kids arrested, resulting in college acceptances being withdrawn and always having to answer “yes” to the question of whether you’ve been arrested. I know I have a good kid. But there is definitely such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there is also such a thing as a good kid making a bad decision. I hope she’s taken all the conversations to heart.
At the senior awards last night the principal said he likens the next week to “shark week”. There will be lots of sharks in the water over the next week (temptations) and he just wants to see all the students get out of the water without getting bit.