<p>I just realized that my son's college application and selection process had actually become my hobby, and now that he's started, I haven't filled the void yet.</p>
<p>The letters, the brochures, the poring over maps and statistics, the brainstorming essay topics, the debates about the relative merits of various schools, the excitement of seeing a front-runner emerge...it's all over! And I miss it!</p>
<p>Anyone else having this problem?</p>
<p>I’m spending my time advising class of 2011 parents, whether they want the advice or not. ;)</p>
<p>^Yup, that’s what I’m doing here!
I realized, though, that I was totally overwhelming some of my non-cc friends so I’ve backed off a little bit!</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve noticed myself not using certain college search websites anymore, had them all bookmarked & in a folder, no less! But I have been playing this “game” from Fall 2002 to Spring 2010 for all 4 children & now it is over with! I did recycle some books we did not need anymore by leaving up at our town dump. (we have a little house for books & another for the knick-knacks, etc & Salvation Army dumpsters for clothing & shoes). </p>
<p>I let the USNWR Rankings online subscription expire! And all of a sudden it doesn’t matter when the next SAT test is! 
</p>
<p>I did love the process. It was a very exciting time. But I am trying to do some home improvement projects (on my limited budget because of tuition). </p>
<p>And I miss him as well, I think I was closer to him than my 2 D’s ( the classic momma’s boy, daddy’s girls scenario)</p>
<p>And I have the 2 D’s down the road, though it’s too early to start planning for other than their college fund.</p>
<p>mantori, haven’t seen you at Sinner’s Alley Happy Hour!</p>
<p>Maybe you need a new project? I’ve been devoting more time to quilting (I dabbled before, now I’m trying to learn to do it well, or at least better 
). DH and I ripped apart the hall bathroom last weekend…we need to get it refurbished before the DD’s come home for Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Youngest started college a year ago and in August I found myself STILL roaming this site! Decided to enroll in an anatomy and physiology class just because medical things have always interested me. I like it and have been sharpening up some rusty memorization skills but it doesn’t keep me too busy to feed my cc addiction.</p>
<p>Your kitchen is looking very shabby. I suggest you go for a total remodel. Problem solved.</p>
<p>I’m volunteering at a local underserved elementary school. They don’t have enough parents to be room moms - so I stepped in. I’ve got a very lively class of kindergartners and I am as busy as I want to be. I’ve helped the teacher prep her room, cut out name plates for cubbies, bought snacks for the first week and I’m looking forward to chaperoning field trips and planning holiday parties. It’s so much more fun now that none of them are my kid!</p>
<p>I’ve still got a junior in high school (stress year) so I’m not done yet. I realized that i needed something equally addictive to distract me. I’ve been researching family trees. Makes a great topic for conversation with friends and family (to replace the urge to discsuss college chances with everyone you meet, LOL)</p>
<p>mantori - There must be some student(s) where you live who would love to have your help and knowledge with this process. Perhaps you could contact your local High School guidance office.</p>
<p>I spent the morning going through my son’s papers. I look around and see no less than 8 binders and afraid to step into their room, where more and more and more papers await. He and his brothers (DS3 and DS2) saved everything. I found papers from 2004! Sometimes I have no problem tossing: old college brochures and coursework for classes they’ll never take in college. But, what should I do with those AP test preps they took or the thesis papers they wrote? What about some classes that “changed everything” for them? Was it the teacher or their work?</p>
<p>I also get kind of reminiscent as I go through all this stuff that was at one time SO IMPORTANT to them. They completed every assignment and took every test. Shout-out to their teachers: Thank You for all you did!</p>
<p>As I do, I’m amazed at the number of tests they took, worksheets they completed, and papers they wrote. What do I do with all that? Will they need it now that they’re in college (and already got college credit for those AP courses)? One of my kids is taking Calc II; will he need his pre-calc stuff? (Tossed) or his Ap Calc (Humm). What about his Honors chem class? (pretty sure it was tossed).</p>
<p>Part of problem is that I’m also a tutor: can I use their things for my own students? See, I have an excuse to save. But it drives my DH crazy, so I part with a small portion. </p>
<p>The piles of papers are still there. I’m not sure anyone will ever use them again, or sort through them again or “need” them again. Maybe the only time I’ll read those papers again will be when I try to do this again. At that point, the piles will be smaller still, but they’ll always still there. That comfort is what gets me in trouble and so unwilling to say good-bye. I had asked my kids to do this themselves. DS3 couldn’t care less, DS2 cares too much. Wonder where he gets that from?</p>
<p>I’ve got one more in HS to go so I’ve still got a few more years around the CC campfire. Lima, every summer they were in high school my kids would have a bonfire and they and their friends would toss all the papers and folders from the previous year in the bonfire. It was a ritual all the kids and their friends enjoyed…the burning of the homework. I know each of mine has a small “stash” of art, papers etc. that they cared enough about to send to the summer bonfire. If they don’t take it with them when they graduate from college I have every intention of emptying their desks and bookcases, boxing it and sending it to them as my mother did to me…so I will “live” with the “stuff” for another year or so for S1 and so on and so on.</p>
<p>FallGirl, that’s an excellent suggestion. I would really enjoy that. I’m going to call a local high school and see where it goes! Thank you.</p>
<p>mrsref, I don’t have a new project per se, but I have started doing more reading. My wife brought home an anthology of Gothic fiction she picked up cheaply at her college bookstore (she’s our other full-time student), and I’ve been reading that a few pages at a time over the last two weeks. Ranging from the early 1700s to modern times, it’s my kind of reading. :)</p>
<p>lilmom, I’ll be right over to Sinner’s Alley, but you won’t enjoy the drink I’m bringing…</p>
<p>megp, you’re a sweetheart.</p>
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Me too. And class of 2012 - the junior year is the most important year, after all! So far I haven’t seen anyone turn around when they see me coming…</p>
<p>“mantori - There must be some student(s) where you live who would love to have your help and knowledge with this process. Perhaps you could contact your local High School guidance office.”</p>
<p>Yes, I think you would make an excellent guidance counselor, mantori.</p>
<p>My S entered college a year ago as well, and I still roam the site. I feel he chose an excellent school, but I still like to read other people’s opinions of it just to kind of reassure myself it is worth what I’m paying every year, and that it was OK for him not to have chosen a better-known one. Yes, I would like to brag to my friends that he is in an Ivy League school, I admit it. I don’t like to have to have to explain that it really is quite fabulous, even when they ask directly about it; most just give me a sort of embarrassed look and avoid looking me in the eye, like they’re sorry my brilliant S couldn’t get into a good college. Oh, was I glad when Forbes, which is a magazine many people have heard of, gave Williams the #1 place in its rankings!! I felt like buying a copy and carrying it with me everywhere.
I’m insecure, prestige-seeking and petty, I know. But I’m honest about it. :)</p>
<p>^that’s what I’d love to be - a full time student! Until the time is right, I’ve signed up w/a personal trainer to give me a jump start.</p>
<p>I am determined that this is the year we will finally lose the bubble gum pink bathroom.</p>