Oh boy…
First kid (DS) off to a service academy. That was tough…saying goodbye to my shorn young man, while anticipating a rough first summer (basic training) with no real contact from him. Lots of tears leading up to the day, but he was so agreeable and loveable. It would have been much easier to leave him 3000 miles from home, with big meanies yelling at him, if he’d been a little bit ornery…
DD…OY. She was so ready to be gone, and acted like it. Yikes. That summer was so so long. Her school had the nerve to start in late September! I was envious of the parents who did the drop off in Aug. We had a blowout about two weeks prior to move in, and the drive up to school was 7 hours of silence. We helped her upack, and promptly left. I congratulated myself on no tears and no more drama, but I broke down as soon as we hit the car. Fast forward 5 years, and life isn’t perfect, but our relationship has evolved. Better some days, worse on others. Two queen bees in the nest is NOT how God intended us to live, so her exit in Aug will help our relationship to continue to evolve and grow.
Baby DS…following in big bro’s footsteps, we will say goodbye to him in late June and turn him over to the military academy to train and educate. He’s developed a serious case of senioritis, but we are hopeful that he will not succumb to the disease to the extent his sister did. You know it’s bad, though, when they start calculating the minimum scores needed to actually pass the class. Sigh…my boys were pros at this, while sister was certain to gather every available point.
So, boys vs girls? The boys were easier emotionally for sure. Academically? I never spent one second worrying about DD. I just knew she’d worry enough for the both of us!
Hang in there 2015 parents…the finish line is in sight!!
That rings so true, @shellz. D '12 kept everything very close to the vest emotionally but was an academic machine. When she felt like coasting she would calculate exactly what she needed on a test or paper to maintain her class grade (A) with enough cushion. S '15 is mostly a joy personally but the academic and paperwork vigilance never ends. If he calculates anything it would be what he needs to maintain a gentleman’s C. 8-|
The place where I lived before I came to the US did not have this problem. College application did not start until after HS graduation in June or July. College admission results were released in July or August. College started in September.
No seniority. No procastination. No time for tantrum in family.
I don’t mean that was a better place. But there was less headache.
While I want to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks, DS is fully living into his plan of milking every last bit of fun out of the end of senior year. He is doing mostly dual enrollment and having finished all grad requirement is taking classes that he wanted to take out of pure interest. He is throwing himself into his music and into the senior assassins game. He survived an assassination attempt this morning as we walked the dog and has been plotting a good portion of the day to set up his “assassin” (nerf darts with lots of rules). I saved his life this morning by creating a human/canine shield in front of the would be assassin’s truck while DH sprinted for cover (and his nerf Saturday night special which he inexplicably left at home). I am going to milk that for awhile.
The kid was just bouncing around going on about how amazing it is to have “nothing on his plate”. He got all homework done early and knocked out his 2 harassable items and now can’t believe how freeing it is to not having them hanging over his head. I hope that will be a lesson learned.
Roughly 1 year and 3.5 months till DS leaves, but who’s counting. Love my DS but he is driving me insane academically and we still have senior year. :-/ Tell me, do you nag them to get their homework done or do you let them “learn their lesson” when it may hurt their scholarship opportunities?
Spring junior year you nag like hell. I pounded on the “easiest money you’ll ever earn” theme and brought up a few alternates that I knew he didn’t want to attend but would be less expensive. He collapsed in a heap at the end of it but managed to push through May and June with a strong upward trend.
I am not talking tigerish demands for perfection - more like the strong reminders that a B- is way way way way better than a C+ when it comes to calculating your GPA and that the half grade bump gained in the class that offered it for a high AP score would be really nice.
@saintfan that is what I’m talking about to my DS. Right now he barely has a B in AP US History and a C in AP English. I will continue to “nag” to get the C to a B and maintain his B in APUSH. It doesn’t help when my DS went to the teacher today to discuss bringing his grade up a little in APUSH and she says not to worry that the tests don’t count much. That is not what I’m seeing with his grades. Four more weeks and he is done, then just 1 year left.
Ack! Boo on “tests don’t count much” - every little points counts when you’re trying to push it over the top or keep it from dropping back down. Sending strategic nagging vibes your way. Too much doesn’t work either.
It could help to get out the scholarship matrix of one of his favorite schools to find out how many more or less dollars would result from different outcomes.
