It’s so fun to read up on everyone’s kids! Lots of exciting news😊.
I really can’t believe most of them only have one year left. Does it always go so fast, or is it a Covid thing?
I had a great time helping D19 and D21 move out last week. Amazingly, it was not hot, and it was good to spend the time together sorting, packing, storing, taking walks, etc. Plus, it was so nice to spend some time with their friends, and especially to see them including each other in their groups of friends. Some kids said they didn’t know they were sisters at first— they thought they were close friends from home:heart:. Anyone who had seen them together from about ages 13-17 would not have believed it!
D19 has two weeks to decompress and then she’ll be living/studying in Salamanca, Spain. This is mostly for immersion Spanish. Her Spanish is good, but she wants to solidify it to the point where she’ll always be able to use it. DH and I will go over at the end of her program and spend a week with her. I’m so looking forward to that!
D19 is a psych major and loves it, but is also interested in nursing. Whenever she tells anyone that, they always want to know why not med school. I’m not knocking med school—DH is a very happy, fulfilled MD, but the sacrifices and quality-of-life issues are not for everyone. Nursing is incredibly varied and flexible.
Right now, she is thinking she’ll take a gap year after graduation, work as an EMT, go on more medical missions with DH, and decide whether she really wants to go to nursing school or in another direction. She still loves leading outdoor trips, and volunteering with a horse therapy org.
Thanks to all for the updates and best wishes to your kids!
This totally resonates with me although mine are boys. Being close in age and having all the same interests (mainly sports), I thought they would be close growing up but they fought like cats and dogs. I hoped they would grow out of it eventually, but even last summer, S19 would go golfing with a high school friend and that kid’s brother who is four years younger than them, but would poo poo the idea of taking S21! Or, if S19 was nice enough to invite him S21 did not want to go!
With S21 in college now too, they apparently actually talk (well, text) to each other, mostly about sports stuff. S19 got home from college this week while S21 was at the beach with DH. S19 told me last night he was going golfing this evening with his friend’s younger brother (kid is a junior in h.s!). S21 got home from beach this morning so I told him he should go golfing with S19 later. When S19 came downstairs this morning, I told him I told my younger son about golfing and S19 said, “I know, I already asked if he wanted to go with us.”
Finally! Thinking now that they are both in college, S19 no longer sees his younger brother as an immature pest.
That sounds so like my girls. They finally stopped having typical sibling fights, but even in high school, they couldn’t get on the same page. If D19 didn’t include her, D21 was miffed. But if D19 did reach out, D21 was “too busy.”
It’s been my dearest wish as a parent that they would realize how lucky they are to have each other and how similar they are. Maybe they needed to get away from home to do that! My mom is always jealous when my sisters and I get together without her. But it makes me so happy to see my girls have a relationship separate from me. I’m celebrating secretly because I don’t want to mess it up!
Well my girls are really enjoying being just 2 miles apart! DD’19 has been there a week now and they’ve been together several times, and swimming in DD19’s apartment pool both Monday and Tuesday. It’s a good thing DD19’s boyfriend is okay third-wheeling The girls have always been super close.
Trip to Ireland went well, but she was ready to come back and fortunately passed her Covid test.
Yesterday was her first day of internship and it was good too. Her last two summer jobs were rough, in different ways, but I think this one will be great.
Great to hear your update @3SailAway and hear about your girls. I hope your D19 has wonderful time in Spain. I know living there had a huge impact on my S19 and he is definitely interested in moving to Europe at some point in the near future.
S19 moved into the city for the summer with a good friend from high school (kid goes to GT and has a one bedroom condo so they are squeezed in a little) and started his consulting internship last week. I got to speak to him Friday once he had learned about the case he’ll be working on. He was very pleased that it lines up well with his interest in sustainability, and is also excited that one of the consultants on the team is based in the Madrid office. He’ll get to keep up with his Spanish!
My daughter is finally back in the United States! I will see her tomorrow for the first time in 275 days, and I cannot wait! She ended up with two 1s and two 2.1s this term, which she tells me is good. She already misses her friends at Oxford! One of her tutors offered to write a recommendation for grad school, so that was a nice bonus!
That is a long time to wait Hope you are having a wonderful time getting caught up today.
DD revealed last night that she now has 2 kittens. I had suggested one adult cat, DH said no cat until she has a permanent residence (that could be years though). So of course she has 2 kittens, and an unknown future after summer internship. But she will get much enjoyment and I reminded DH there are much worse things she could do.
It’s been a minute since I’ve been in this thread. Good to read about kiddos thriving in their respective spaces and the wonderful experience @milgymfam’s daughter had abroad.
D19 is spending the summer in Philly working as research assistant. It was a tough uphill climb for her to secure a position in a lab that matched her interests but she finally got one. I’m so proud of her perseverance!
Most of her friends are also in Philly for the summer and she is enjoying socializing without having to worry about schoolwork. They’ve planned some shore and city excursions to fill their free time. Honestly, it’s been wonderful. She’s really blossoming into a responsible young adult.
Hey all, I haven’t been around for ages! But looks like the thread is quiet.
Not a lot of news here - D19 home and working at her summer job - and has secured an internship she was after for when she’s back at school. It’s off campus, but there is some link-up with the college and she gets credit for it, which is nice. Probably not needed, but given a slightly rocky road so far, always nice to have something in the bag.
Younger one starts high school in fall and I’ll be on the same road again soon… (I can’t believe no one has started a 2026 version of this thread yet …!!!)
Hope everyone is having a good summer and that your kids are doing well too. I can’t quite believe S19 is getting ready to start senior year. We just moved all his stuff back to Nashville this weekend and “built” a bedroom in the house he is sharing with 4 other guys. S has one week left of internship and then will head back to Nashville for a week of training and preparation for the freshmen orientation program at Vandy. This is his third year as a leader and he has really enjoyed working with his groups of students (he meets with his group once/week to have good discussions and do fun activities - also assists in helping them adjust to college) each year.
The consulting internship has been better than S expected. He got to do interesting climate work and also recently spent a week working in their Boston office, which was pretty fun (and was able to have dinner with my D ). S got his return offer at the end of last week and decided to sign the offer letter. So, he’s set with his post-graduation job. Yay! His current plan is to go back to Europe after graduation and stay there for about 6 months before starting work. We shall see…
Congratulations ! That is an exciting milestone. We are getting ready to drop D22 off at college. Excited, anxious at the same time. Any tips for first time college parents on dealing with post college drop off blues?
DD is done with her internship and therefore with college- though I’m waiting for her final grades to show up. She LOVES her internship and is continuing to work there, at least through the end of this month. And that’s where the limbo begins. If the part-time guy quits (he’s job hunting), she could take that until the department grows enough to make her permanent full-time. Which is fine but she needs to make housing decisions next month and if she doesn’t find a roommate she needs to move. A friend might be interested but don’t know yet. Boyfriend has an inexpensive open room at grad school but that means moving away from current job that may or may not continue…all very unsettled at the moment.
I was just going to write a post about how hard it is to believe our kids have only one more year left and then I saw @bjscheel 's post that her D is already done! And may already have a job! Congratulations! Our S19 has been home with us in Tokyo this summer and will be heading back to Ohio at the end of the month. He took an online music class to cover an outstanding GE requirement but has otherwise had a quiet summer. We did spend a week in the UK at the end of July checking out some potential graduate schools, and that was fun. He wants to pursue sports psychology, and the UK schools seem to be the leaders in that field. We also spent a week in France looking at houses for ourselves. It looks like, by this time next year, the whole family may be relocated to Europe.
D19 will be applying to PhD programs this winter, and has already reached out to about half of her potential advisors. She will be attending the professional meeting in her field in November, and will try and meet with as many as she can.
How can she be a grad student next year?
Her internship this summer went really well, and she’ll even have a publication or two. The PI is really impressed, and doing his best to get her to be in his lab. She really did get along with all the other lab members, and has become, in three months, an integral part of the lab, even though she is an undergrad and from a different college.
But, how is it possible that she will be a grad student next year?
We’ll be picking her up from her place in Chicago over the weekend, and bringing her home, and then, in about a week and a half driving her, for the last time, to Middlebury. I cannot believe that she’s starting her last year in undergrad.
And she’ll she be a graduate student next year, but how did that happen?!
D is back at school and settled into her apartment. She went back a bit early for TA training, so she’s awaiting her apartment-mate’s arrival on Saturday- they’re best friends.
Her grad school list has been finalized during her thesis meetings. She’s applying to:
She’s super duper nervous that she’ll get shut out, but she’s written her statement of purpose and started her personal statement, so she’s doing everything she can and she knows that.
Well we’re moving onward here! DD finished school this summer- just got her diploma in the mail last week. She’s been working with her sister in the interim. Today she got a job offer in her field, full time with benefits, at the flagship university where her BF is in grad school!
So she’s moving 4.5 hours from us at the end of the month. She can rent a room in the same house as her BF and his cousin are in, saving $400/month over the cheapest 1 bed in her current location. And she’s really not about living alone! Her lease ends next month so timing is perfect, no gap in housing or employment.
At this point she thinks she’ll only be there 2 years, when he’s done with school. So I’m debating whether to have her take the medical insurance, or just keep her on ours (I did check for in-network providers in her new city and ours should work). DD’17 is still on our plan, so I don’t think we’d save money by removing DD’19.
The retirement plan is mandatory, and I am encouraging her to do the 8% for the full match!
sounds like it all fell into place. I did remove my S19 from my insurance because at the same time I removed D17. But before S19 got a job, when D17 was working I kept her on mine. Removing kids seems to be a package deal
Weird that D19 has less than two months of college remaining, as she’s graduating early (though walking with the class in May). The internship I mentioned back in February went well, and the gallery wanted to have her back this semester but needed more hours than D19 could give them. She’s busy with her capstone project. But it is indeed a good connection that I hope will be fruitful for her as she nears graduation.
Well, other than one school whose app hasn’t opened yet, my daughter has hit submit on her other eight grad school apps. There were a couple of changes to where she applied from when she thought she finalized her list (due to recommendations and meetings with schools), and one late add where she disappointingly couldn’t apply (a weird rule precluded anyone graduating in the spring), but it’s all done now but the waiting. The last app opens November 1st and she’ll be ready to submit November 1st since she has everything ready to submit.
She almost immediately started researching jobs and fellowships because she’s worried she’ll get 9 denials, but I feel optimistic on her behalf. Ha.
Congratulations! What a huge accomplishment to get those applications complete. When will she hear about next steps? I am assuming final candidates go for in person interview/on campus visits?
I’m not knocking med school—DH is a very happy, fulfilled MD, but the sacrifices and quality-of-life issues are not for everyone. Nursing is incredibly varied and flexible.
The girls have always been super close.
Hope you are having a wonderful time getting caught up today.
). S got his return offer at the end of last week and decided to sign the offer letter. So, he’s set with his post-graduation job. Yay! His current plan is to go back to Europe after graduation and stay there for about 6 months before starting work. We shall see…