<p>What would the Prisoner think of anarchy? Anything sounds good if it gets him away from that huge scary ping pong ball that comes out of the ocean. Even slacker sons. </p>
<p>And MOMWC, your son must hold the title of Emperor of the Slacker Sons, a title he gained by his sheer, wilfull, apparently rather joyful, flauting of all convention and well, at least bending, of all the rules.</p>
<p>Long may he reign in the Empire of the Slackers!!! And we look forward to the day when he takes his original self to the large world and invents something really cool. Just remember, he can feel superior about it, as TJFS says, It’s a School of Thought:).</p>
<p>So, jym626, your descriptive post of your dinner soiree/community service awards certainly does highlight the difference in our evenings. There was one raffle at our dinner-everyone got a ticket when he/she walked in. I was the lucky winner… of a $20 gift card to a local grocery store/produce place. Pretty exciting stuff.</p>
<p>jym626- of course, her helicoptering style is not what mine would be! Nor are her concerns the ones I would raise. But this is good for me! Another Bite My Tongue, please, and with an umbrella in the celery, if you don’t mind.</p>
<p>MOWC, whosoever tooketh that Vanderbilt Divinity School T-Shirt will get his just reward, not only in the world to come, but in THIS world. Everyone will start to ask the wearer all kinds of impossible, unanswerable theological questions. In about a week, that T-shirt will be donated to a church, hopefully Episcopal (your daughter’s denomination).</p>
<p>Sounds like all of you had something exciting going on this week! Congrats to the volunteers and the future doctors and priests!
Pretty unevenful week over here. I’ve gone to a local college’s grad school open house, and as I walked in, I saw a bunch of people meandering with wine glasses in their hands :eek: At first, I was in shock. Drinking at a college fair? I guess that I’ve been to too many DD’s undergrad dog and pony shows this year… Then it hit me - it is <em>grad</em> school, we are all legal adults here! I picked up a glass of red and headed for a nice chat with a lady at one of the tables.</p>
<p>momof3-
I’ll take the $20 gift card! At least it is somethiing useful!</p>
<p>Mafool-
What approach is this other parent taking? Even if her concerns are totally diffeent, will it nonetheless keep the kiddos safe, free from stupid mistakes??? My older s organized summer housing with about 8 other interns from all over the country. It was an experience, to say the least. Let me know if you want the stories… good and bad. It all worked out in the end, but it is a huge hassle for the one organizing it, so more powere to the other lady, if she is being helpful… If she is NOT being helpful, I’ll pour you another of those blody marys!</p>
<p>Hasta la vista, folks. I’ll report back after my <em>wild</em> spring break in Cancun. hahaha—I’ve packed enough books to read one a day if I feel like it!!!</p>
<p>jym626-
The other mom is concerned about things that strike me as relatively unimportant: some creature-comfort issues that I think college kids can work around and through. So she is vetoing some of the kids’ finds, making things a bit more complicated. So far, I hear nothing that alarms me with regard to safety, so I am sitting back, not saying much, watching, and sipping my cocktail in the company of the other enlightened parents here!</p>
<p>mafool-
Creature comfort? Thats funny. I guess my s set the bar too low. As long as they had water, electricity and a/c (they were in the South in the summer) they were happy. Cable and internet was preferred/desired, but considered a bonus. They did get it, but it was part of the “details”. Ditto for washer/dryer. A fringe bonus. In the place he stayed his second summer, he bought the washer/dryer, had them installed, and then sold them to his friends moving into that house in the fall (he was in the city where he attended college, and in the second summer he sublet a house with friends that was being rented for the following school year by other friends). There are always hassles and disagreements, but it eventually works out. I never even considered sticking my nose in to “veto” places they found. The only time I raised concern was when he had too many applicants for the house he had the first summer. The landlord had a second house that could have been rented by the “overflow” applicants, but it was in a really, <em>really</em> sketchy part of town, and seeing as how these kids were coming from other cities, and the only contact they had for housing had been through an ad posted by my s, I didn’t want them to hold him responsible for a house in a really seedy part of town that he wouldn’t even have considered living in. (The house was fine, the area wasn’t). Where he did live was marginal (it was gentrifying) but it was pretty safe. The other one… not a place I’d want him to live, so couldn’t in good faith see recommending it to strangers. He probably put those kids in touch directly with the landlord (who was a character, and not too reliable) but I think my s told them it wasn’t a great part of town. Other than major safety issues, I kept my trap shut!</p>
<p>^^^^LOL! I’m with your son w/ regard to amenities and I’m with you w/regard to keeping my nose out! (Sounds like your son has a good head on his shoulders and a good business sense, too.)</p>
<p>I recall some of the dumps I lived in and sort of see it as a rite of passage. I think that the place they ended up choosing will have its own set of, er, challenges. And they’ll work it out.</p>
<p>^^^^ Exactly!! We’ve all lived in primoridal “student housing” of one form or another. My s got really good at working deals, got some furniture from Craigslist and freecycle for the summer places so they could dump it at the end if they wanted to, and he even got a “finders fee” from the landlord for all the renters he had for the first summer house/duplex and attached garage apt (they had a lot of applicants) so he got a real deal, if you don’t consider all the hassle factors from the renters and some of them skipping out before finishing paying their part of the utilities, wrecking his pots/pans/silverware, etc. Oh well… none of it was great stuff anyway… thank heavens.</p>
<p>Pour me a celebratory drink…S #2, who tends towards slackiness (in only some areas) & deadline ignoral, has scored a summer job! In his field!</p>
<p>The god of summer jobs hath smiled upon him. We will not be pushing him out the door each morning to go pound the pavement! But however will we keep our couch from levitating, you ask? :D</p>
<p>Yes when I’m pointing out the limitations of anarchy I mention things like how nice it is, if you should find yourself bleeding profusely, that the good people at 911 have come in to work that day…</p>