<p>Dad: How’s the weather lately?
Son: It snowed a little last night, but it’s the wind that’s bad.
Dad: How’s the temperature at night?
Son: Great!
Dad: Really? I thought it was down into the teens.
Son: It’s nice and warm as long as you don’t go outside.</p>
<p>Parent:Aren’t you awake? It’s after 1:00 PM.</p>
<p>Kid: Guess what ? I don’t have any class before 1:15 and none on Friday.</p>
<p>Parent:Great! Now you can get a job in the morning!</p>
<p>Kid: I need $500 immediately to buy books. Pleaseeeeeeee put it in my account!</p>
<p>It’s 3 p.m. last Saturday…
Parent: Hey what are you up to?
Kid: Just got up
Parent: It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
Kid: Yeah I had a tough final last night
Parent: Wasn’t that class at 6 p.m.?
Kid: Yeah it was I am still recovering</p>
<p>intercession class 6 to 8 p.m. daily for 2 wks (one credit)
Intercession ‘having fun and hanging out’ nightly starting at 8:01
Conversation priceless</p>
<p>Son:</p>
<p>(10 characters)</p>
<p>oh, Bethie! He must just be learning SO much that he’s speechless!</p>
<p>D’s 2nd semester classes started this week. I got the description of the physics prof who is a “pretty boy” who looks younger than the TA, dresses like a college student and has an ‘emo’ hairstyle, except it’s blond…and she’s sure that her Calc III course will be her downfall (“I love using math and calculus to solve something ‘real’ in physics or astro, hate just doing math to be doing math”…</p>
<p>Mom:You e-mailed Prof at 6am? What were you doing up at 6am?</p>
<p>Son:I was doing my laundry.</p>
<p>I kid you not.</p>
<p>Last week was my daughter’s FIRST day of student teaching…she’s getting a master’s in special ed.</p>
<p>Dad: Honey, how was your first day student teaching?</p>
<p>Daughter: I think I’m gonna like the teacher, she’s cool, but I don’t think she really knows what she’s doing. And the aids all have attitudes.</p>
<p>Marite, my question would be…were you up for the day or not yet down for the night?</p>
<p>Well, I know not to call him before noon… What floored me was the idea that he was doing laundry at 6am. Not that he was still up at 6am.</p>
<p>But all the machines are free at 6 AM.</p>
<p>Parent: How’s the weather there?
Kid (me): 25 degrees, me and a roommate went to the mall in jeans and a hoodie!
Parent: WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE? YOU’LL DIE OF HYPOTHERMIA!!!..etc…
Kid (me): Mom, the temp has been no higher than 3 Fahrenheit, this is a heatwave right now!</p>
<p>Phone Call #2, 3 days later:
Parent: Is it still “warm”?
Kid (me): It’s -23 including the wind chill. Local school districts are keeping kids IN school because it’s too windy and the snow is blowing too hard to let them out on the roads, but we still have class.
Parent: What? What happened to your heatwave?
Kid (me): You’re telling me! It was 44 degrees yesterday! Now it’s -23!!! Next week it’ll be 30 something and then back to negatives and snow and wind. </p>
<p>Phone Call #3, completely unrelated to the others:
Kid (me): Uh mom…what’s dad’s SS#?
Parent: Uh…why?
Kid (me): The hospital wants to know for insurance.
Parent: (eery silence)…umm, [gives #], btw…WHAT DID YOU DO!!
Kid (me): You know that hard, 40 mph wind I told you about? Well when you’re snowboarding and hit the jumps, sometimes the wind catches you and spotting a landing just doesn’t happen.
Parent: What’s broken?
Kid (me): Dislocated shoulder and something about dislocating the screws in my knee [i’ve had three previous surgeries on one knee, i have 7 screws and a small plate in there].
Parent: (silence…)
Kid (me): They popped my shoulder back in and said my knee will be better than ever in 6-7 weeks. Maybe I can get back on the board when we go to Utah for spring break!
Parent: (another silence…)</p>
<p>Grandma, S and we went out for a meal. S showed up in a hoodie, grandma was in the warmest possible parka she had. S was shivering a bit.
Grandma to S: “Aren’t you cold? Why aren’t you wearing a parka?”
S: “No, I’m fine.”
Grandma: “So why are you shivering?”
S: “Because I just got up, maybe?”
Grandma to me: “I think there’s something wrong with this kid. You need to get him a medical check up.”
Me: “He had one. Last June.”
Grandma: “June, that’s summer. Now’s winter.”
Me to S: “Next time grandma’s around, can you wear your parka? It’s either that or a trip to the doctor.”</p>
<p>When I heard S had been flying to NY and Boston with NO COAT, just a suit, I ordered a NF fleece be sent to him. I can’t imagine how cold he was.</p>
<p>My mistake, not realizing that the interviewers would all have wool overcoats. That will be on shopping list for next year.</p>
<p>Sometimes a GM could point out the obvious.</p>
<p>Bookworm:</p>
<p>What kind of company? S went to an interview for a summer internship. He has a suit which I bought before his freshman year and has never ever worn (even to try on–I ordered it from a catalog :(). He refused to wear it for his interview. So he dressed in khaki trousers (it was great that the weather was in the 30s); a shirt and a creweneck sweater that belonged to his dad; ditto tie and belt. He put on a windbreaker–his parka would have been deemed too hot. After his interview, he phoned back: “Mom, I was way overdressed. Everybody was wearing jeans or cargo pants.” 
I don’t know if he’ll ever get around to wearing that suit…</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, and I love this line about a dating service started by some Harvard grads (in today’s Crimson):
“Harvard didn’t give us great dating skills but it gave us great math skills,” he says. Sounds like my S.</p>
<p>Cards4Life—Aughghgh. “The hospital needs it…” is never something you want to hear in a phone call from your kid!!!</p>
<p>bookworm, not to sidetrack the thread, but my senior HS son really wanted a black wool topcoat this Xmas, so we found a great one on sale at JCrew (too pricey normally; also looked at Sierra Trading Post, which has some nice ones) and he has worn it every day since–over a suit, over a tux, over jeans, over cords, with a hooded sweatshirt (!), with everything. Loves it. Doesn’t wear his parka anymore. My H used to wear a British navy surplus double-breasted wool coat while SKIING, so I’m guessing this kid may wear his new much-loved topcoat the same way. It was a great investment.</p>
<p>Today:
Son (making a rare call to me): “I’m walking to school in most of 2 feet of snow right now.”
General discussion takes place about classes, staying warm, etc.</p>
<p>Son calling back 30 minutes later (to my wife though): “All classes on campus are cancelled from 10:00 am on so my professor just went ahead and cancelled my 9:00 am class as well. I had 2 quizzes scheduled for today, so I won’t have to take them until next week now.”</p>
<p>“Classes and quizzes are cancelled, there is a basketball game on campus tonight, Lost starts tonight and we will probably go sledding later today. It is a good day.”</p>
<p>Sometimes, life can be fun!</p>
<p>My son bought his excellent quality black wool topcoat at a used clothing store for $25 and paid $25 to have the lining repaired.</p>
<p>I ran out of contacts last week so asked my mom to send me another box. Then I realized that I had to go home next week anyway to vote on super Tuesday, so I called her to tell her not to bother and that I could pick them up.</p>
<p>Me: Hi Mom, have you sent my contacts yet? I’m going to come home on Tuesday to vote and don’t have class until 1 on Wednesday so I think I’m going to spend the night too.
Mom: Oh that’s great. I’m at the UPS store sending them right now anyway.
Me: Well you really don’t have to, Mom, I can just pick them up.
Mom: Yeah, but what if you tear one before you get home?
Me: (confused-I rarely go through more than 2 pairs in a year) I guess I could just wear my glasses…?
Mom: I’m already here so I’ll just go ahead and send them. They’ll get there by Wedensday.
Me: Okay Mom, whatever, love you bye.</p>
<p>Wednesday afternoon rolls around and sure enough, I have a package slip in my mailbox. I pick up the box and am confused because it’s slightly larger than a small box of 6 contacts.</p>
<p>Then I opened it to find a cute Valentine’s beanie baby, a heart-shaped box of my favorite chocolates, a bag of my favorite candy, a home made rice krispy treat…and the lone box of contacts.</p>
<p>Suffice it to say it made my day. And I’m still going home to vote!</p>
<p>Kristin</p>
<p>Point 1: S learned the slogan as a freshman :“When the going gets tough the tough go sledding (on cafeteria trays)”.</p>
<p>Point 2:</p>
<p>Phone call, 9:30 PM Saturday night (college time)</p>
<p>S: Hi, Dad</p>
<p>Me: HI there. Say, it’s 9:30 Saturday night. You don’t usually call us at this time. Didn’t you say you were going to a party.</p>
<p>S: Oh, it’s in our suite; hasn’t started yet.</p>
<p>Me: This still is an unusual time to call us</p>
<p>S: Well, I need to discuss something with you </p>
<p>Me (to myself): (No kidding).</p>
<p>(Was something he needed to discuss but no real catastrophe)</p>