Thank you guys, you make me feel better about letting him skip the day. I think that’s what we’ll do. I also really want him to get to bed at a decent hour tonight - he got home late from watching the super bowl at a friend’s house last night, then had to shower off the dog before bed, and he just was on a sugar high from all the cupcakes at the house, and he probably didn’t get to bed before 1:00. Then I woke him at 6:40. So the kid could use some sleep tonight too.
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Honestly -if that were me, I’d let them skip the day.
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I’m letting S25 skip first tomorrow (which means he doesn’t go in till 1pm) because he asked for a little extra sleep bc tomorrow is a “work day” in his first class and he says he’s way ahead. So that should make you feel better!!
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Good luck to him on the interview!
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So the hitch, and the reason I really hesitated, is that my kid is never way ahead. Like he’s usually well behind and trying to catch up. Since the quarter only started last week, he’s not behind… yet, and I just didn’t want to do anything that could promote that. If he misses the test tomorrow, ok, but then what else gets messed up when he has to make it up or what else is he not doing?
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Thank you! It’s a serious long shot, and, frankly, I don’t think he’s going to get it. But it’s good practice and I’m proud of him for getting this far. I’d love him to get it as that would take all the hard questions off the table about which school to choose. But I really, really doubt that we’ll be that lucky.
Totally get that. My younger son is like that so I understand the hesitation. But it will be ok. Plus I read that VT is closed tomorrow too??
Japan! I’ve never been. DH has only spent a few days in Tokyo in his 20s with friends and he wants to go back and explore more than bars. We’re spending 8 nights in Tokyo and 6 in Osaka for day trips to Kyoto and Hiroshima. My kids have never been to Asia. We’re so excited! If anyone has any recommendations, I’d love to here them!
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Yep, VT is closed, but anything done virtually is still on. The interview is over zoom, so I’m assuming still on. At least, there’s nothing in his email to suggest otherwise…
My older son had a full-ride scholarship interview weekend 3 years ago. We went there thinking the same thing: if he got it the choice would be easy. We had a great weekend, and he probably did ok but not great at the interview. He received a short horribly written rejection email when we had only be gone about an hour. Truthfully, if he had received the scholarship the choices just would have been harder. In that hour we had been talking about how the opportunities are great, but the restrictions in that particular program would involve some amount of sacrifice to a typical college lifestyle (they were very regimented about the scholarship co-hort doing everything together, studying the same times, walking in a line on campus, no cell phones, etc.). We knew that we learned a ton that weekend that we could apply to the place he ultimately chose. He would have survived the strict regiment, but wouldn’t have been happy at the full-ride location (well— he would have been happy at that university if he didn’t have to participate in the strict program). He is extremely happy where he ended up and probably had better opportunities there.
Now we are having the same conversations about his PhD offers…“family or factory”. Both great offers…but many would choose one of them hands-down as being more prestigious and paying a significantly higher stipend. He has to decide how he wants to live the next 5-6 years. They only get their youth once! 
Your son will do well wherever he chooses. Good luck tomorrow, but if it doesn’t happen then it wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes the pot of gold is at the other end of the rainbow.
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Thank you for sharing this! It’s a good outlook to have. I honestly think that VT would be the better fit for what he wants than his other choices (and not just because of the money) but he doesn’t see it that way. If he doesn’t get this but does get in (which we still don’t know, and the email inviting him to interview for this was clear that it didn’t connote acceptance) I don’t want it to sour him on the school.
We went to Tokyo for spring break last year. Lots of fun stuff to recommend. Don’t want to sidetrack this discussion, should I DM?
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Well, finally got C25 to nail down a visit to RIT, so we’ve paid for plane tix and scheduled the tour day of the campus. We’ll be going mid-March, possibly right before/after we hear about the UW-Seattle decision. Which will likely help sharpen focus on this option. They’re also visiting WWU this Friday with Dad, so they’ll have visited both campuses that are the list-leaders currently. And they’ll only need to get a proper UW-Seattle visit scheduled if they get admitted.
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I’d let him skip the day. Lesser of two evils.
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We went summer before last. Spring break will be much better weather.
My rec would be to stay/spend more time in Kyoto. It’s amazing. - early morning walks in the surrounding hills to the many temples and shrines, before the crowds arrive, is a fantastic way to start the day. You can walk directly from the center of town. Can’t wait to go back.
The second hand clothing stores are fantastic! They are everywhere and you can find so much great stuff - go to Cat street in Tokyo. I don’t normally frequent second hand stores but they were so good.
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Help requested from anyone, but especially Midwesterners!
So…I just got a text from our airline saying that due to a storm coming into the Midwest that our flight on 2/13 could be delayed/disrupted/cancelled and offering to let me move it. D25 needs to be in Indianapolis on 2/14 for an audition…and we’re supposed to fly out that night to Texas for two auditions on 2/15 and 2/16.
Are there any other airports we might be able to access and then drive? The list of airports potentially affected includes all of the following: Chicago (both), Des Moines, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Omaha, St. Louis, Wichita. And even if I could fly somewhere else, do I then want to drive multiple hours in inclement weather? This is a nightmare situation for me. ETA: SWA will let me switch to Cincinnati, but I don’t think anywhere else. I think it’s about 2 hours from there to Indianapolis.
I’m tempted to see if the school will accept a video audition and then just fly to Texas, even if that’s not ideal for my kid (who shows better in person–her strength is picking up choreo quickly).
What would you do?
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Heading south on I-65 you get to Louisville (SDF) in just under 2 hours then Nashville (BNA) in another 2.5-3 hours. Cincinnati (CVG) is 90 mins southeast of Indianapolis on I-74 and has a few more flights than Louisville but not as many as Nashville.
From CA there are non-stop options to IND and BNA but SDF and CVG are usually one stop.
It looks like snow on Wednesday but just clear and cold on Thursday and Friday before another storm into the weekend.
Let him skip. I let my kid take mental health days when he needs them. Always have. We all need a break sometimes.
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Indy looks like your best bet according to the forecast. North and west you’ll have more snow and south and east is calling for freezing rain on top of snow.
Right now, Indy is the only city in the area not under a storm warning.
That said, I’d be leaning towards sending in the video audition and not chancing it, especially since you have more auditions coming elsewhere.
These are the current warnings:
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We are going to Japan in July for S’s graduation present!
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