<p>Bar Mitzvah here…~$2,500, including everything – tutor, suit, shirt/tie, dress shoes, tallitot (I made them), food, invitations, party favors, suede kippot for guests, programs, the whole deal. We were acutely aware of impending college expenses and of having no family who would be helping us pay for a party or college.</p>
<p>S went to several Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, we’ve been to a few also. Very fun and I am sure quite range of budgets. No sweat shirts, but a lava lamp at one!</p>
<p>I’m so jealous of y’all getting to go check out dorms and such. We’ll just wing it when we get there. Now, that everything else is pretty much taken care of, I will have to turn my attention to shopping. I’ve been saying that for two weeks. 
jc, glad it’s going well at UVA! </p>
<p>sailorette, I think part of the social change has to do with their ages. Some of these kids are newly minted 18yos. I think the “adult” label kicks in, and they want to start trying out their roles, maybe even get some “experience” before heading off to college. This is what has to explain things like the hookah bar fad, lol! Ds is more like GSharp’s dd – never went out much in HS but has a relatively active social life this summer. I know some of the parties involve drinking, but I know ds would never drink and drive so I’m not too worried. And after tonight’s birthday dinner, he’s heading straight home and forgoing the hookah-fest. :)</p>
<p>BT- thanks for the recap…ditto</p>
<p>sewemma- my prayers and thoughts are with you and your family- tomorrow take your time-sometime ago i delivered the Eulogy for my beloved grand mother and ‘they’ rushed me …to this day i wish i had slow down and said what i had to say…
parent56- Love the video…and congratulations to the beautiful couple
acm- hopefully you are having a wonderful time down at BHI
Congrats to all our performers/actors break a leg or Merde to all.
DB- we must leave in the same neighborhood that same dog was barking too</p>
<p>Over here we have housing assignment, ordered computer, set up payment plan,
turned in health forms, check with health insurance for out of state coverage, pricing dorm items, booked hotel room for night before move-in day.
S1 does not seem to anxious to shop, his only concern is to have good sheets/comforter (like the ones at home ??)…hum, hum</p>
<p>Cleaning his room …well here is the thing…we moved here his sophomore year and he never saw the need to unpacked because he was going to leave for college so his old room (since he was a baby) is already/still packed away. </p>
<p>S2 is enjoying a full-fill summer going to recruit camps and visiting his 'List of colleges",
the common App will be up August 1st…for those of you who care to remember where we were a year ago.I have lurked at the 2011 thread but can not resolve myself to leave this comfy, happy, unstressed place…2011 thread.</p>
<p>Jc40- So Happy everything went well for your D at orientation…I am with you with the measuring tape, I don’t care about decoration (should have acm over to help with putting my own place together first), but i would want to make sure that everything will fit in the room.
Any idea on how to hang frames on wall without making holes ???</p>
<p>Good night all :)</p>
<p>I don’t think S is drinking, I’ve seen no evidence of it and we try to stay awake until he comes in. H is trying manfully on his own right now! S is also working out 6 days a week so I think alcohol wouldn’t mix well with that. He is doing some pretty intense workouts with the personal trainer I work with and she has e-mailed me her enthusiasm. They work out at 8:00am:).</p>
<p>Very odd - I had a Bat Mitzvah myself, and I’ve attended several others, yet I’ve never seen sweatshirts! My parents also refused to spend a lot of money on my Bat Mitzvah - at the time, I was upset that I didn’t get a big party (just a lunch at my house), but I definitely get it now. I can’t believe the money people spend on them; it’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>Though I made great friends in high school, we never really went out much or partied, simply because we didn’t have time. Now that it’s summer, I’m really enjoying hanging out more with my friends, but just enjoying the cool stuff that we have here in SF. No drinking or anything like that. It’s been so nice to spend time with everyone outside of school, because that’s really not something any of us had a lot of time for, but I think me especially.</p>
<p>All three kids and I saw Toy Story 3 tonight. I agree with other moms who said they were glad the theater was dark!! Oh, my.</p>
<p>GSharp - we are the meanies too who insist reasonable hours because I just can’t sleep if one is out and I know they are expected home. I don’t require reasonable to be before midnight, just not 3AM either :)</p>
<p>Sailorette - my D is experiencing similar things although fortunately her closest friends are still as tame as she is. She’s very hopeful to find similarly minded friends at college too. </p>
<p>jc40 - glad her schedule worked out and I would have taken the random measurements too :)</p>
<p>All you UVA parents - what dorms will your kids be in? Curious if I’ll run into anyone on move-in day. And I’m now very thankful D is on the 1st floor (we think) of her suite to limit the lugging in heat/humidity! Not to mention the AC in my car is on the fritz and I can’t afford to have it looked at so I am hoping move-in day is not a full scorcher!</p>
<p>Oh gosh, it just hit me, in less than one month we take D to college. She will not be home to make me watch her television shows with her or I would never watch television. My mantra these days is that “she is just taking a step on life’s journey that I have been preparing her for. This is a good thing.”</p>
<p>Shilly - S1 is in the IRC across from tennis courts on first floor
we will be coming in the day before, so we can start bright and early 
S2 and DH will unload, S1 and I will unpack and organize…hopefully we can meet up while there.</p>
<p>weewhitty- thanks for this reminder :(</p>
<p>sailorette- sorry to hear about your D’s friends I think this is pretty common - Our S is into training, healthy choices, so alcohol has never been his thing he has been the designated driver since he was able to drive…</p>
<p>YDS…smiles at the encouraging words. D’s BFF’s mom is a high end residential interior designer. I silently laughed in hysterics watching her cringe as she told me about her D’s roomie wanting this Ralph Lauren bedding (as if this was a hideous choice). She was hoping to deck out the room in “clean, modern” decor but alas it wasn’t meant to be. I asked her if her D had mentioned that her mom was a designer who would love to help with their room, and she said no; her D didn’t want to ruffle any feathers especially if her roommie had a set idea of what she wanted the room to look like. (I could certainly understand this.) My D would be like, “Free interior design services? Jackpot!” </p>
<p>YDS…Thanks for the well wishes. I hope your S at least has access to photos of the room so he can have some kind of idea what to expect. </p>
<p>Concerning summer partying…Like others, our straight-laced perpetual studier has been socializing a lot more than normal this summer as well. I’m hopeful she’s making wise choices; I believe she is. We have talks about consequences very often. I think the fear of jeopardizing everything she’s worked so hard for keeps her grounded, but I suppose I don’t know what she’s doing while she’s away for certain. All you can really do is hope and pray, right?</p>
<p>veewhitty, I like your mantra. I will adopt it! I thought I was covering up my feelings pretty well, but DH asked why I’ve been down! Darned perceptive husbands!</p>
<p>Shilly…D is in McCormick – old dorms.</p>
<p>Going suit shopping with my mom tomorrow… Wish me luck! We might need a stiff drink afterwards, ha ha! ; )</p>
<p>D’s class schedule was posted today. I saw it when I was looking to see if the tuition payment was posted, while she and her BF were at the movies (BTW, in their opinion, Inception is a Must See). She came in the door saying, “My schedule is up!” Her roommate had texted her. And STUPID me said, “I know, I saw it.” She was mad that I saw it before her. Why didn’t I just play along? I’m such an idiot. </p>
<p>Re -drinking and partying this summer - D told me she thinks a lot of parents have just “given up.” The kids are 18, there’s no more threat of being suspended from school or kicked off a sports team, and the parents figure they’ll be at college in 2 months anyway. D is sort of on the outs with most of her girlfriends from hs anyway, in part because many of them went wild with partying this spring. She hangs with her BF and his circle of friends, but lately it seems to be mostly D and BF - his friends seem to be either working odd hours or clinging to their girlfriends before the big separations this fall.</p>
<p>Lots to catch up on here as usual! Very little getting done with D away. The blue North Face Surge backpack that I ordered arrived today. Of course, D has yet to see it. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>We did sign up for the shipping to campus service offered by her school. If anyone needs shipping boxes, go to Uhaul.com. We got the largest size for under $3.00 each. Shipping them to us was extremely reasonable. They came this week and hold the equivalent of a large suitcase. Now to just get D to help pack on her next day off. . .</p>
<p>As for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs - we had a nice party/luncheon for D. Kept it somewhat reasonable but for many reasons, wanted it to be special. D worked hard for this accomplishment and it was the first real celebration thing we had done since her older sister died. Lots of emotion there. No sweatshirt or T shirt as a party favor - we ended up having the DJ make a CD for each of the kids of a mix of popular music from that time (most songs selected by D). Actually less expensive then the T shirts. Now, the trick for us is that my S will become a Bar Mitzvah while D is in college. Oy, just when we get D settled, we’ll have to start planning that. I should have done some things for it already but just can’t get it together to get started.</p>
<p>PAO, I love the music idea! I think my S got one of those as a favor. My husband and I picked 6 seventh graders up from a Bar Mitzvah once and the consensus in the car was most of the kids wanted to convert! It was a pretty fabulous party. My husband and I went to the bar mitzvah of a frinds child recently, the invitations were CD’s made by the very talented bar mitzvah boy. His band even played a set at the party.</p>
<p>Good Morning all and Happy Friday :)</p>
<p>Put some coffee on , half and half in the creamer, please help yourself…
No dog barking this morning woke up to the beautiful sound of the wood peckers…</p>
<p>We have attended quite a few Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and there are always great events.
A lot of parents use party planners for lack of time. The favors were typical bags, CD, picture frames, photo booth on site etc…</p>
<p>We also have gone to some sweet 16 and those can be over the top…
So happy we have two boys.
Back home, eighteen is the milestone - for the boys a good watch/or pen covers it - for the girls a good string of pearls Voila.</p>
<p>It is going to be hot in NJ Trying to stay 
</p>
<p>Hot here too. You know when you step outside to get the paper at 7 a.m. if it’s already warm pea soup, it will only get worse. :(</p>
<p>We are going to NYC for the weekend to visit S & DIL! Unfortunately, the heat will probably follow us…but thank goodness for AC! </p>
<p>These mini-vacations with H & S will probably be the norm from now on. When he starts co-opping thatt will be the end of nice long breaks from school.</p>
<p>Super hot in NC, playing tennis at 10:00am, ugh!</p>