Just back from Parents’ Weekend for S24’s fraternity. It was great! They had a dinner for us Friday night, then tailgating Saturday with lunch. The frat house is really nice and it was so nice to meet all the guys that he has been talking about for the past 5 weeks. I mostly met kids in his pledge class but also met some of the actives who were also really nice. Saturday afternoon was the football game and all I can say is WOW!! This was my first SEC football experience. It really was insanely fun. His school has some really amazing traditions on game day including a bald eagle that circles the stadium and lands on the field, fighter jet fly-overs, fireworks after every touchdown…just nuts. Makes my alma mater football games look like FNL 
Anyway, it was so good to lay eyes on him, squeeze him and see that after the rough start with covid and everything else he is adjusted and in a good place. He is sick for the third time in 5 weeks (a cold this time) but it was expected which is why I sent him with a huge medical tub of every med he might need and instructions on when to take them 
Excited to see him in 7 weeks when he comes home for Thanksgiving.
D24 called this afternoon and we Facetime’d. We talked about a few things:
- When in March or April for D26 & I to go visit her at college. She really wants D26 to come see her dorm room in person.
We settled on us flying out there on 3/8, hanging around campus, and then hitting the road to drive the 3 hr north to Tulsa, OK, so we can tour University of Tulsa on 3/10 for D26. D24 will fly back home w/us on Tues 3/11, and then she’ll fly on her own back to Dallas the following Sunday at the end of spring break. Logistics of these things with one’s kids in 2 different locations is tricky! And holy cow, how are we going to do move-in weekend in 2 yr when both of our kids are attending different colleges? - D24 stayed up late last night working on a 1-pg intro to an 11-page paper for her first year seminar class. Kid thought the intro was due in class today. turns out that it’s actually due on Fri.
She said, “So I’m really annoyed that I lost out on 2 hours of sleep for nothing. But at least now, I have time to make it better before it’s due.” - a Bio midterm is coming up some time in October.
- She got into the mythology class she wanted for the school’s 3-week Jan term. Is excited about that.
- Has asked for my DH to back off and not be so “turbo” about her getting a scooter. He keeps recommending scooters that go way faster than she’s comfortable with. She said, “No, I want one that goes at a Grandma speed like that Honda Metro. I don’t want to go 45 mph. Daddy needs to chill out.” Me hearing that →
DH hearing that news → 
Yes, Purdue. He went to the first one against Indiana State which they won thankfully. Looks like they are heading for a rough season. The travails of having a team to root for… Atleast the marching band is fab! 
Is your child at Stanford? Sounds familiar.
No, and apologies if I gave that impression. That was not my intention. My son is at Cal Poly SLO.
My DH has now become a little scooter obsessed and keeps talking about it, thanks to The Child expressing interest in figuring out some sort of cheap, reliable transportation around town so she doesn’t have to rely on others all the time.
Disclaimer: I think this will be for next school year, not the current one.
DH has discovered that a work buddy of his, a guy who we’ll refer to as Scooter Steve (not his real name), is a scooter enthusiast. So yesterday, Scooter Steve rode 1 of his scooters to work and DH got to ride it around the parking lot to try it out. I have now gotten to watch my DH ride around on 1 of Scooter Steve’s contraptions.
DH now wants to get one for himself. Oh for the love…
He’s trying to launch a promotional campaign for D24 to agree to a particular size of scooter. Meanwhile, D24 & I are like 
…“Chill, man.”
The current plan is for us to take D24 to Scooter Steve’s house at some point over Thanksgiving break so she can try riding one to see how she likes it before we buy one.
For awhile yesterday, DH was babbling about buying a 15 yr old USED one off of Scooter Steve for cheap and then giving it to D24 and we drive it ourselves in the back of a pick up truck or something (we’d have to rent one, since we don’t own a truck) from AZ to TX.
Me to DH last night: “Um, honey, the 1-way truck rental could easily wipe out the cost savings of buying a used scooter.”
DH: 
Me: 
D24 when I told her of Dad’s idea:
This morning, Scooter Dad has agreed that, maintenance-wise, it would make a lot more sense to just buy a brand new one IN TEXAS, NOT in our home state.
Meanwhile, the Play Date With Scooter Steve is tentatively planned for Thanksgiving week. HAHAHA!
i’m thoroughly enjoying this and have no plans to purchase a scooter nor do i have a kid in college yet (2 class of ‘25 seniors) but i’ve been a longtime lurker on this thread to soak up the wisdom, experience and adventures (perhaps a few mins-adventures too!) from the class of 2024 crew. thanks for the laugh on scootersaga! hope you keep the thread updated
Your joy and description of the SEC game makes me jealous. Given the reference to a war eagle I am assuming Auburn. Enjoy!
Well, the SEC football game and the reference to a fraternity house a mother is willing to step foot into. Years ago my mother did that once, and refused to meet or set foot in my fraternity house ever again. Something about the house smelling like a locker room mixed with beer and her feet sticking to the floor was just too much. Fond memories. 
WDE!
I think they had to make the house extra nice since it was full of moms It was also just newly renovated so they haven’t had time to destroy it yet!
S24 may never FaceTime us again. Just for a little background, he’s a blondie that dresses quite preppy and ended up in the northeast. He’s now wearing a silver chain and it’s such an unexpected look for him that we couldn’t help but mercilessly roast him for it. Spouse asked if he lost a bet, sister asked if he puts it in his teeth for pics like the cool kids do.
Now I have no issue with chains, I know they are popular with many and all meant in good fun, but just such an unexpected sight on him!
Our NE kid is in the south now and it was hilarious seeing him in jeans and cowboy boots at parent’s weekend 
just so not something I could have ever pictured him in.
I’m visiting D24 for the first time tomorrow. She has just one class and an appointment, so I’m hoping we have a good visit most of the afternoon and evening. I head down to see S22 on Saturday for just a few hours because the Alabama-Georgia game has turned very chaotic, so there is much less free time for the band than we anticipated. But, still good to see him and the band!
D24 seems to be doing very well adjusting to college. Classes all seem good. She is making friends. She has joined the pep band and a club. She has gone to office hours for a couple classes and asked questions/clarified things. I’m really happy about that, because in high school she never wanted to talk to her teachers about problems.
She uses Discord to chat with high school friends fairly regularly. They are all doing well and they enjoy keeping up with each other.
I bought her plane tickets for coming home in December. I’m hoping she finds a friend to help her get to/from the airport, but otherwise she’ll learn to Uber.
Can’t wait to see her tomorrow!
I got a phone call at 7:45am from D24’s roommate’s mom (We met once before start of the year and exchanged info, but have not interacted since then). I couldn’t answer right then but texted back a few minutes later asking if we could chat in a bit.
She responded that it was time sensitive……
Could I please call my daughter and ask her to wake up her daughter? Roommate apparently had an 8:30am exam and was not answering her phone.
What??
Anyway, I called D24, she woke up roommate who WAS fast asleep, but now made it to her test.
But D24 and I both had thoughts….lol
This is my 3rd college kid and I have never ONCE helped them in any way to wake up while at college. I rarely know when their exams are. I just don’t even know what to say. 
This was a random roommate match and it has been fine. Not great friends, but fine.
Update while I was typing this…apparently roommate overslept and missed a lab last week. Mom has been calling and waking her up daily since then.
D24 texted “how has she survived until this point?”
I have a friend whose son is a JUNIOR and she calls him every morning to make sure he’s awake and then watches on her phone to make sure he goes to class. I imagine she’ll do it when he starts working too.
She knows it’s wrong but she says she just can’t bear to just allow him to fail when it’s just a phone call, which I do understand.
I guess it’s a thing. My boy who solely dressed in sweats his entire high school career is now dressing nicely… which is great. But now also has a chain (that I keep calling a necklace that I keep getting corrected on). I roasted him on that too. Of course I’m too old to know…
And this is why you gotta let your kids fail earlier at smaller stakes tasks! On the other hand, I have probably parented in ways that were appalling to others (not just my mother-in-law )
Yes, agreed. But!
Waking up is D25’s kryptonite and is the cause of angst in our house. The stakes are certainly lower in HS than college of not making a class because of sleeping through it.
Unfortunately, I still give D25 a wake up yell at the point of time that is make or break on getting to school on time without running afoul of traffic violations. She is generally either on time or close enough to escape the tardy, but not always.
I’ve thought a lot about this issue and certainly will not be calling to wake her up in college. My thoughts now are to remove the wake up shout safety blanket at the end of this semester. That would give her a good 6 months to figure it out. The stakes would be lower, but crucially, there are still stakes in play.
Will she sleep through an alarm clock? Like those that also have the daylight feature?