<p>You all beat me, but having read this thread I realize I’ve seen dc’s cell pop up on my caller ID and have answered the phone way too frequently with “yes, dd, WHAT.” (As in, what is it now?) They definitely don’t ever call home at odd times unless they need something or something’s gone pear-shaped.</p>
<p>S1…oh yeah, I got some more ink (tattoo).</p>
<p>Doesn’t compare with some of the crazy stuff posted here, but I did get a panicked call from DS one morning: “I slept through an exam, what do I do???”</p>
<p>My answer was, go see the professor, explain what happened, and beg for mercy.</p>
<p>He worked it out. :D</p>
<p>One no parent ever wants to hear. DD, a senior at Rutgers called to tell me her friend was found murdered in the yard of an off campus house. As of today, there is no word of any suspects. My heart breaks for his family and all of his friends.</p>
<p>Thats very sad, Peg.
I hope they get some leads soon.</p>
<p>How very awful, Peg. So sorry for your D, the young man and all his loved ones, as well as the Rutger’s community. </p>
<p>Oh my god, Peg. How horrible. How is your daughter doing?</p>
<p>Thanks for asking. She is doing ok, carrying on with her internship and classes. Until they find out who did this, there will be no closure for them.</p>
<p>The day after I moved into my new off-campus apartment (and my parents had flown home) I texted my dad: “What can I use to cut a metal mesh? I tried sawing it with a knife.” (Dumb, I know.)
Dad: “Use tin snips. You can find them at Home Depot.”
A few hours later, I call him: “I’m at Home Depot now. I need to buy tin snips, blasting sand, and PVC piping.”
My dad simply guided me through buying the stuff and even advised that I buy some gloves and goggles as well if I was cutting metal. He didn’t even ask for any explanation.
It wasn’t until he visited me that he found out that I was setting up an aquarium in my room.</p>
<p>Freshman DD text at 4:30 a.m. “Mom, I think I’m getting sick”
I wake up at 6:30 text her back “what’s wrong”
DD “can’t get warm, feel horrible, sore throat can’t stay awake”
Me: " go to student health!"
DD: “I can’t, I don’t have time, chem test coming up”
Me, 2 hours later “hey, how are you?”
Me, 3 hours later “ok, now I’m getting worried”
DD 4 hours later <em>texts back picture of arm hooked up to IVs</em>
She was severely ill, had to go get her, and she missed a week of class.
Junior is going to NOLA for Mardi gras in a few weeks. I expect to add more then.</p>
<p>S1 graduated in '11; S2 commuted. These threads are bringing up some memories :). Memories I don’t want to repeat when D leaves for college in 18 months. I may long for those days of the non-communicative sons, because I know she’ll send calls/texts way too much every day with every little problem.</p>
<p>@moonpie:
This cracked me up! :)) </p>
<p>S1…oh yeah, I got some more ink (tattoo) this week…arrggh.</p>
<p>Text this week from Junior S1- “What do you know about antibiotics and birth control?”</p>
<p>Yikes! Glad I haven’t gotten those texts. ^^^. Maybe we should count our blessings our kids are needle phobic. So far, don’t think either kid has had any need for birth control, but the subject hasn’t come up; so who knows?</p>
<p>Another one from S1…“I broke my little finger today”.
Me: Are you going to have a Dr. look at it? S1: No, I have a lot to do and can’t have my hand all bandaged up. I went to Walgreens and bought adhesive tape and a thick emery board. It’s working pretty good.</p>
<p>Luckily, with exception of the truly tragic incident at Rutgers and school shootings :(, kids seem to get through these situations and move forward (hopefully with lessons learned). My S made it through knee surgery, didn’t get any more tickets, was able to do a 1st offender program/community service and get underage drinking citation dismissed, and moved out of the off-campus house and back into a dorm the day after the intruder incident. The only lasting effect of all this being the gray hairs on my head (S graduated and has a good job). I will try to remember that as D heads off to college this fall :). </p>
<p>And it is ALL of those things that make them ready for adulthood, isn’t it? I always talk about going away to college like being in a halfway house. You’re out there, you have to try your best to make it, but you do have a safety net if it gets really bad and you need help getting through it. </p>
<p>Thought I would reconstitute this thread. Text on Wednesday night at 2:15 am from D2, on her campus across the country for summer research: “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow”. When I could get more out of her, turned out she had fallen and hurt her arm. Made her call campus security for an opinion on ER vs. Urgent Care next day. They said UC next day would be okay. Then… D2 didn’t want to go to UC. “I slammed my hand in the car door that time and didn’t break it, and that hurt more than this does.” Lobbied hard and got her there. Followed by two texts: “Xray”. 20 minutes later, “Fractured”. Not a bad break, ortho doc decided they could just use a sling without a cast and check it again in a week. Last time she texted at 2 am it was to show of some muffins she had just baked. Not so lucky this time…</p>
<p>My D is out on her own now and no longer in college but got a call recently asking what the best way to stop bleeding on your wrist was. Why was her wrist bleeding? Because the cat knocked a glass to the floor where it broke as it rolled under her bed. Reaching for it she basically slit her wrist-but not TOO badly. “Do you think I should go to the ER? It’s pretty late? Maybe I’ll wait for a few more minutes and see what happens…” It turned out to be more superficial than she made it sound but geez…</p>