One of mine is getting married 
@NEPatsGirl… same here. Three weeks. It’s about the most nervous I have ever seen in her high school career. Maybe we need to start a Parents of IB Seniors Taking Exams Sanity thread?
One daughter is starting her medical residency at an academic medical center in New England. My other daughter is going to Guatemala for a month to do a Spanish immersion program for medical personnel, then will spend 6 weeks shadowing/observing/volunteering at an Indian Health Service clinic in a rural Southwestern US community.
We consider a job after junior HS year a life skill…how else does someone that young distinguish themselves as hardworking, able to take direction, able to show up on time? And nothing makes a 17 year old appreciate money more than figuring out how many hours it takes to earn a [whatever]. Prior to their junior year, though, they did not work so we could do summer travelling and family things. One worked at a summer camp all summer mornings, the other worked freelance in his creative field doing assistant work and weird random jobs. When they couldn’t find a paying job, they volunteered. I am not a big believer in “leisure time” in general, for anyone.
My rising college senior will work two weeks at a summer camp for HS seniors interested in his major; the rest of the time he will work for one of his professors. He also has assigned household jobs as his “rent” during the summer, plus a seemingly endless round of medical procedures and appointments.
D2 has an exciting summer. She is attending Summer Honors week at a local private college studying human anatomy with histological techniques. Just after returning she finally gets her braces off after 5 years then two days later much to her dismay she’ll be have 5 teeth pulled including her 4 wisdom teeth. A few weeks after that she’ll have two weeks of dance intensives. Boring life our kids have. D1 has a 5 term co-op so she’ll be working all summer. We’ll get to see her 1 week before she leaves for work and 1 week before she returns to class:(
My older son has a job that might or might not work out, four days a week, in Philadelphia, and I am urging him to register for some summer course-work so that he can play catch-up (complicated college history). The younger one had hoped for a good political internship, but none seem to be materializing. He had a questionable job lined up, and I’m sure that he could have gone back to the summer job he worked previously, but he thinks he would like to travel, after researching low Transatlantic fares in June. His elder brother went to Europe as a graduation/18th-birthday gift. The younger did not travel last summer. He used some savings and gift funds for a pre-owned car, and he worked multiple jobs, so this might be his fun summer. As he said, he doesn’t know when he can count on a combination of cheap gas and airfares and free time in the future. He expects to be deeply involved in electoral politics next summer.
After S graduated from HS, he worked in a summer science program for kids. He enjoyed it and it wasn’t too stressful. His favorite part was he didn’t start work until about noon every day (he’s a late riser). Our D was not healthy enough to hold a job after ending HS and starting CC. She just rested over summers or completed incomplete coursework.
If you want to incentivize your kid to earn $$$ over the summer, you can tell him that his earnings will be his spending money for college as Bank of Mom & Dad don’t have funds for that. Some folks do this, to varying degrees of success. If he wants a job (or internship), now is the time to start pounding the pavement and making inquiries earnestly.
S1, currently a college soph, is working at the same summer job he had since after HS, delivering industrial parts to factories, plus taking a course online. D, college frosh, will be working doggy daycare and taking o-chem at the local college. S2, HS soph, has some mountaineering and rock climbing trips planned, living the life I wish I had at that age, plus studying for PSAT/SAT/ACT. He also has a community-based website to take care of.
Our son will spend his very short summer catching up on all the sleep he lost in high school. Oh, and enduring long, long hugs from mom.
S1 will have a paid internship when he graduates high school (just found out he was accepted). We spent two weeks skiing in Aspen this winter so no big summer trips. S2 and S3 will probably do camps since they are still young.
Mine will be getting up at 4:30, running, marching, following orders, learning to “do” the military, and generally being beat down so he can be built back up. He’s headed to USAFA, and he’s my baby. All your plans sound much better to me, but this is his dream. I’m sad, proud, and a bit bipolar on most days! I keep trying to figure out how we got here. He was just four the other day…
My 20 year-old D will be finishing her first year in College after a gap year where she worked. She obtained an arts-related job in a program for HS students for 6-7 weeks (which is really only a little more than half the summer). For the rest of the time, she may see if she will go back to one of last year’s PT summer jobs at an ice cream shop. She has plans for future summer to do theatre training program possibly abroad so wants to save money as she is expected to contribute to those costs.
S HS 16 will be away for about 6-7 weeks working as dishwasher/CIT at his summer camp (you have to be graduated from HS to be an actual counselor). He can’t wait! He will leave that job early to come back from pre-season for his Fall sport.
Oldest D -study abroad in Europe
Youngest D - 12 day trip with a school group (Europe as well) and driving school, possible some SAT prep.
One of mine will be arriving home next Friday and will have to find a job. She’s spent previous summers working at babysitting, dog sitting, coaching lacrosse, but this year hopes to do all those things plus a ‘real’ job, maybe at the athletic club or fast food. The other is starting her summer at ‘24 Hours of Disneyland’ (truly a dream bucket list item for her) and will then head to girl scout camp for 8 weeks.
College freshman coming home from NYC to a paid part time internship at an oil company. Told him if its less than
25 hours that he needs to find another part time job…the days of chill summer breaks are over. And he will be working out daily since he plays football. My rising senior in HS will be going to NASA for a week for the Texas Aerospace Scholars program, doing some research at UT and working/volunteering and writing college essays (the hardest part). But they will still have fun since there won’t be any homework, AP tests, SAT tests, or finals! Woo Hoo!
Reading about all these jam packed summers makes me wistful for the summers of my childhood. 3 months of lazy days, swimming in the pool, going to the beach, sleepovers in the backyard. A job was MY idea at 16, and honestly my parents didn’t want me to work. Nowadays, it seems that if a kid doesn’t have all sorts of academic, athletic or other purposeful plans for summer, then he or she is a bum, or putting themselves so far behind in the college application arms race. My kids were busy, and did some/all of the above, so please don’t take my comments as judgement. It’s just a little sad…
Shellz, I know exactly what you mean. Although my parents approved of my working (for dad), my summers were much like yours. So were the summers of my older 2 kids, as they spent time at their dads doing lots of outdoor activities and hanging out with friends. My youngest doesn’t like to sit still and nowadays of course, teens can’t go anywhere in cars together so trips somewhere together are out. We do make D chill out for a week after school gets out and a week before it starts.
But hey-wanted to congratulate you on your son going into the Air Force. My nephew will be reporting for boot camp in June. He had planned to apply to the academy as well, but some challenges with his home life made that too much of a crap shoot. He lost 100 pounds to get where he is and we’re all really proud of him, as you are of your son.
@shellz, Congratulations to you and your son! My son refused to apply to academy (he hates academics lol) but wnet into boot camp August after senior year. He has done exceptionally well, it was absolutely the right place for him. He is now a man, turned 25 in January, been in almost 7 years. He has earned has Associates Degree and is working on his Bachelors. He lived in Florida for 18 months, Japan for 18 months, and is currently working in DC as a cybersecurity tech, while going to school to get his degree. Everyone takes a different path, and this is a great one!
I am in AWE of the families of our brave enlisted men and women. For raising up kids who are dedicated to protecting the rights/lives of others (many of whom do not appreciate it…but that’s another story!).
@sseamom the whole no driving with other teens thing was a great peace of mind thing, but I know I look back fondly on the times when a whole bunch of us would pile in a car and head to the beach. Now it’s a caravan, and for my plan-averse kids it was just too much work to coordinate! And congrats to your nephew…losing 100 lbs is amazing. Glad he will get to enjoy improved health and longevity! @NEPatsGirl My son actually thought about enlisting for quite a time. In the end, though, he decided that he could do four more years of academics. Like many boys, though, he would prefer to be doing physical stuff rather than sitting behind a textbook. It will be a challenge, but he’s up for it. Thanks to both of your family members for their sacrifice and service!!
Yes, S went in EOD much to my dismay but washed out one week before graduation (sshhh. yeah!) He has been behind a desk/computer station since then and isn’t too happy about it. Once you wash out, the military decides where you will be most beneficial, to them it was in a computer science/cybersecurity position and he has learned so much. Yes, he’d rather be more active but he has a great gym and plays both baseball and football with this workmates, so there’s that.