<p>Not that you were talking to me Cheers: But, I don't think my family's issues are related to fame. I think it's more of the old "black doctor/black lawyer" thing. All of the men are docs and lawyers...and all of the women are teachers/principals ('cept me). The idea of going to college to become an art historian is...well.....new..:)</p>
<p>Haha, no M, talking to blossom's daydream of being in the audience when her children receive Oscars and Nobels....not that there is anything WRONG with that, lol.</p>
<p>Architecture school revolves around The Star System. It took me a decade and a tiny tiny bit of fame to discover the true nature of the beast.</p>
<p>Oh....I see. Wow Blossom, I honestly can't imagine my son beyond college. Do you all see your kids in their futures? Hmmm...maybe this is weird that I don't imagine more than 2 years out. I think I stop at "hmmm, wonder if he'll want to move off campus in Soph year"......</p>
<p>Oscars and Nobels? Well, Blossom, I hope you see yourself looking fabulous as you cross the red carpet! Are you weairng Harry Winston rentals or genuine diamonds in this vision? Are any of the other CC parents there....not that we care, right (wink)?</p>
<p>Emerald --</p>
<p>Yes, Alice Miller. Reading it at the same time you have a senior applying to college is probably dangerous. There is a great deal of suggestion that parents project their insecurities onto innocent and unsuspecting children, coercing them to 'perform' in ways that grant our egos peace and redemption, rather than allowing them to live their lives. And all these years I thought it was a GOOD thing to have high expectations of children with apparent talents. Woe is me.</p>
<p>Anyway, as for the college major debate, I wonder if we are all, as parents, ill-equipped to some degree to enter into it, because we are operating on generation-old information rather than the wind that will sweep our young ones into the future. Not to mention that 'natural selection' tends to do its work rather tidily anyway -- survival of the fittest in an unfit world, regardless of what college name you wear on your sweatshirt.</p>
<p>DM</p>
<p>Dizzy, that's a really great point. Doesn't what happens after college matter even more? Things go downhill fast once you enter the "real world" and you learn how to deal with the insecurity it creates in people. </p>
<p>And now that the tech bubble has burst, maybe it's time to return to a more non-linear thought process.</p>
<p>"just as we could truthfully be happy with a variety of partners"</p>
<p>OK, I can't resist--
Hey, Emeraldkity, I'm pretty sure I could be happy with a variety of partners, but that sort of thing is frowned on these days, isn't it? (What with the health concerns and all).
--a former lurker</p>
<p>"Anyway, as for the college major debate, I wonder if we are all, as parents, ill-equipped to some degree to enter into it, because we are operating on generation-old information rather than the wind that will sweep our young ones into the future. "</p>
<p>I do think this is true. I think we are dealing with old information. At least my son says so..every time I open a conversation with him, he says 'Your generation did this...' and 'Your generation did that'. Jeez how does he know more about my generation than I?</p>
<p>Achat...your post made me laugh!</p>
<p>Thanks for all your good wishes to me and my progeny during our moment in the sun... but to clarify... I don't think my kids will be famous, nor do I care.... just a coping mechanism when your kid does something irresponsible or stupid and you fantasize that someday it will all be worth it!</p>
<p>Dizzymom: Please don't discourage your son from majoring in English. I'll admit, I'm an underpaid college advisor with two degrees in English, and the majority of our income comes from my H, the physician (who majored in philosophy). And he's leaving medicine to become a high school teacher!!!</p>
<p>Dizzymom:</p>
<p>I majored in history and my H in Physics. And guess what? He got his Ph.D. when there was a glut of post-Sputnik Physics Ph.Ds and switched to computers; he's been laid off several times as companies got gobbled up then downsized, or expanded too rapidly and blew up. I've had only two jobs in my life, one that lasted 18months, before I was offered my current one.</p>
<p>Blossom and Cheers:
And what about being in the audience when your offspring receives the Ig-Nobel prize? Much more likely to happen to me than being in Oslo when said offspring receives the Nobel prize. :)</p>
<p>Blossom--I have had those thoughts, esp. during their embarrassing elementary and junior high school escapades, that maybe my S's would somehow "redeem" themselves someday--in my case, more along the lines of maybe they'll get a well-paying job and take me on a trip or something someday. . . never imagined them winning a nobel prize, though. Maybe I should aim a bit higher with the day dreams!</p>
<p>Mstee and Marite-- we shall all meet up at the Ig-Nobel's then. Will someone wake up our progeny in time for the ceremony or should we go along without them???? :)</p>
<p>Boy, Blossom, your last remark is just so on target. Do you know my S's? Last weekend when my D and I went to Chicago to see one of them, I called him on Sat. at 9:00 in the morning (Chicago time), and he very grumpily answered the phone saying "What are you calling at 7:00 in the morning for?" I said "It's nine o clock." He replies "9:00 YOUR time." And I'm trying to get through to him that it is really 9:00 in Chicago (would be 7:00 in Bay Area, where we came from). I gave up and called back a couple of hours later. He was coherent by then, and we had a nice visit. So as long as the ceremonies don't start before say, noon, I think I can get him there.</p>