Parents of the HS Class of 2010 and college years beyond (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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<p>OK, I need the CC hoardes, with their pitchforks and torches. Our target? The YMCA!</p>

<p>Two years ago, D decided to become a lifeguard. It’s not an easy task, requiring certifications in First Aid, CPR/AED, and a Lifeguard Certificate. It costs several hundred dollars for the training. I found two places that offered it - a pool/tennis/health club in town offered Red Cross Lifeguard, it required two weekends in a row (Fri eve thru Sun night) and included all 3 parts of the certification. Well as a busy hs junior we couldn’t find two free weekends in a row that matched up with their schedule. So D went to the Y, which offered separate First Aid & CPR classes on weeknights, and a single weekend (Thurs & Fri nights, all day Sat & Sun) class for the Lifeguard part. </p>

<p>When D was halfway thru the class, we found out she would be getting a YMCA Lifeguard Cert, not a Red Cross Cert. Turns out that limits her employment prospects, as many pools require a Red Cross certification. Lucky for her, the town Rec department accepted the Y certification, so that’s who she works for. Most Y lifeguards work for the Y.</p>

<p>All of these expensive certs are only good for 2 years, so this summer D’s certs expire. So I signed D up for the YMCA Lifeguard re-certification challenge. It was a 4 hour test, held at the Y on Fathers Day. We skipped a big gathering at my in-laws so D could attend. I paid $109 to sign her up. The program description reads:

</p>

<p>D went, and called me that morning from the class: “They’re not doing the CPR and First Aid. They said they’re ‘too busy’ and they’ve been holding those classes all week.” REALLY? Well they never called us to tell us that! Turns out most of the kids taking the class worked for the Y, so those kids knew, but no one bothered to tell US. </p>

<p>Now it’s been over a month, and we have yet to hear a word from the Y. Did she pass? Where’s the certificate? We called two weeks ago, and the certificates weren’t in yet. D called again today and left another message. Her lifeguard certification expires in 10 days and she won’t be able to work after that. PLUS I had to pay $75 for someone to come to the house and re-certify D in CPR, and as for the First Aid certification… we’re playing dumb for now.</p>

<p>UGH. I have always thought our Y was disorganized and full of themselves, and this experience has more than proved that. </p>

<p>I want to complain to someone, but I feel like we need to have our re-certification in hand first. THEN I plan to demand at least part of the $109 fee back, since they didn’t do the CPR and First Aid as promised.</p>

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<p>yes parent 56… a really good friend of mine gave me that advice years ago…she said that she told her mom something shocking ONE time and her mother was so bullistic that she made a mental note to never tell her anything like that again. I have always tried to remain calm with D when she tells me things and it has worked so far… I know she doesn’t tell me everything and I wouldn’t expect her to but I do think she tells me more than I told my mom at her age…</p>

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<p>Ugh is right, Laf. :(</p>

<p>And I’ll join your Y-hating club today. My SIL was aquatics director/camp director/develpment coordinator at one in New Jersey until yesterday. They just laid her off. Poor thing is really upset. She started working for the Y in 1988…as a high school lifeguard. Pooh. :(</p>

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<p>

Cue Lurch: You rang?</p>

<p>That’s just obnoxious. why is it too much for people to do their darn jobs?</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone for sharing your stories about the friends going wild this summer situation. It really isn’t everyone, but the ones who she is still tight with all happen to be the ones away at camps, travelling etc for the most of the summer.
Luckily, we are headed up to Maine for a few days to visit some friends. They live in Boston most of the time, but have a house in Maine as well which we haven’t made it too in a while so D 18, S 16, and D 12 are headed up there for a few days. H has to work, and so does S 20. They have a D that is also heading off to college (Colby) in the fall, and she and D have always been good friends so it will be a nice break for D. They also have a S16 and a D9 so everyone should have a friend up there.</p>

<p>I think it was Doug Betsy who posted that her son’s roommate was from Newport Harbor, I just asked D1 about it and she said that the after the show Laguna Beach (that came before the Hills), there was a show called Newport Harbor that was all about the teenagers of that town in the same vein as Laguna Beach.</p>

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<p>

I’m trying very hard to be casual about things D tells me, but she got me a good one. Turns out one of her friends, whom I’ve known for years, is now working as an escort. When D told me I almost fell over. I think D was shocked, too. I have since found out reliably elsewhere that it is completely true.</p>

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<p>Yes, Newport Beach is “The OC.” I can attest there are “real” people who live there, as I’ve met some.</p>

<p>One of our HS salutatorians from last year chose to attend Wake Forest on a scholarship, so it’s not unknown. We have a graduate from this year who will attend Duke. CA is huge and send students everywhere. I believe I read that at Northwestern, the state that sends the most students there after IL is CA, so my S will have plenty of company.</p>

<p>:cool: :cool:</p>

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<p>have a great trip sailorete!!</p>

<p>not sure i would have stayed “face neutral” on that one zooser!!!</p>

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<p>

Maybe the roommate will be rich and generous! Wouldn’t it be great if he brought the fridge, a plasma TV, DVR, games, whatever for both boys?</p>

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<p>Yes, our S is regularly (as in 4-5 nights a week) hanging out with his friends. I believe at some of the gatherings there is alcohol. I was heartened when S broached the subject and we had a calm and adult discussion about it. I reminded him that while he exhibits good judgement, when people are under the influence, that judgement they rely on can be impacted.</p>

<p>I think most of the things he’s doing with friends isn’t that different from during senior year, just more of them and more often. Despite the alcohol discussion, I’ve seen no signs that he’s been imbibing. His sleep schedule is quite altered from HS, so I reminded him he might not have it so nice when he hits college.</p>

<p>:cool: :cool:</p>

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<p>

That’s what I’m worried about. Thankfully D has no early classes.</p>

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<p>Re: students from California - I was told that CA is the number two state represented at Boston College as well. (not sure if it’s true, but wouldn’t be surprised).</p>

<p>We used to say that no matter where we drove, we always saw cars from NJ. I guess no matter what your college, you’ll always meet kids from CA?</p>

<p>DB - it sounds like your niece had THREE jobs - and they’re still laying her off? They’re going to run with no Program director, Aquatics Director OR Development director? Sounds like they’re completely shutting down. I had taken aerobics classes at this Y way back when D was a toddler. They promised to have babysitting during the class, but the room they had it in was more of a large closet and some days the heat didn’t work (we’re in New England) and the kids had to keep their coats on. One day the babysitter didn’t show up, so I filled in. When we were in the aerobics class in the summer, the room had windows overlooking the field where summer camp was held, and we could see the summer camp kids running amok. The “counselors” looked to be about 13 and appeared to pay no attention to the kids whatsoever. I told myself that my kids were NEVER going to summer camp at the Y, and I never even looked at the Y’s school-year pre-school/daycare program either. A couple of years later a pre-schooler wandered away from their day-care program and was found 3/4 of a mile down the road by a passing motorist… the Y didn’t even know the kid was missing.</p>

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<p>Sigh, I wish DS were MORE social. He hasn’t done a single thing with anybody! I keep telling him he should call up a couple of friends, but he doesn’t. I worry about him some. He’s friendly enough and had friends at school, at least. Well, college changed me in a good way, so I hope it will do the same for him.</p>

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<p>Parent56 - very odd about your S’s cyst setting off metal detectors. Maybe he has a lot of iron in his blood? I’d want him to get that checked out too.</p>

<p>Lafalum - I just hate when things like that happen. Hope you get everything straightened out so that your D can keep her job, and I agree that the Y should refund your money.</p>

<p>DB - sorry to hear about your SIL losing her job.</p>

<p>BUandBC - safe travels, and have a great visit!</p>

<p>PMK - you’re right, of course, and the sweatshirts will be donated. I generally pass my kids’ clothes down to their younger cousins, and I realized that the cousins probably wouldn’t wear the sweatshirts either. </p>

<p>So far, no problems with D and her friends, I’m happy to say.</p>

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<p>limom… if he calls me before he goes to dr…i’ll make sure he mentions the metal detector thing to the dr…we both thought it was really weird.</p>

<p>gc is out of office so i went to collegeboard, and yep his account has the school address! ap scores arent available online??? well hopefully son knows his ap id #'s etc, maybe he can call when he gets back</p>

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<p>parent56 - I hope your son is able to see a doctor ASAP. Does your son’s school post AP scores online? That’s the only way I could think of to get it. Also, I don’t think you necessarily need the AP number to call, because I didn’t have it last year, and I was able to get it by calling a different number, answering a series of questions (birthday, etc.), then they gave it to me, and I called for my scores. I don’t know if that’ll work, but good luck! </p>

<p>Lafalum - that is incredibly annoying; I hope your D gets certified again and you get your refund. </p>

<p>California is always a highly represented state! I think the only school I applied to where California was underrepresented was Case Western, but I think their draw is becoming increasingly more national, so that may not hold true in a few years or so. </p>

<p>I got a message from health services saying I hadn’t submitted my immunizations form or that I wasn’t compliant with their requirements. I had proof I submitted the form, and as the child of two doctors, I am beyond compliant :wink: Anyway, I reached them and it turned out that their system said I wasn’t compliant with the Hep B requirement, but I am, so they said they’re fixing it…hopefully they do :/</p>

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<p>Just wanted to say that I have never heard of the sweatshirt thing for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and I live in NY…super weird. Maybe it’s more an out-of-the-city sort of thing?
My Bat Mitzvah was horrible. I’m not religious, I wasn’t then, and my parents certainly aren’t. Yet my ultra-Jewish grandmother wanted me to have one (did she want to pay for it? Of course not, that would be reasonable), and when I protested she pulled the whole “Our people were murdered because of their beliefs so the least we can do is honor their memory by continuing their traditions” guilt thing. So my parents and I finally gave in and decided to have a very small one with family and close friends (none of those friends were mine, of course, they were all my grandmother’s). Well as it turned out, the rabbi wasn’t actually a rabbi and couldn’t read the Torah properly, much less instruct me in how to read it, and according to my parents the food and wine totally sucked. Plus the small restaurant was having another private party for somebody’s 80th birthday and they kept telling us to stop playing music and dancing and generally making noise. Oy vey indeed.</p>

<p>On another note entirely, I had my first driving lesson today! I was really nervous going into it because I have successfully crashed every go kart I’ve ever driven, and because I tend, as a general rule, to be horrible at everyday useful things (like cooking and using the phone, though I’m getting better at laundry!). But as it turns out, I’m a pretty good driver and remembered all the rules and didn’t go too fast or anything, so that’s good! We’re going to be in a rather rural part of New Hampshire on vacation in a couple of weeks, so my parents might let me practice some up there.</p>

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<p>

Don’t we live in the same community? I’m not Jewish, but every Bar/Bat Mitzvah my 2 Ds have been to have had the shirts, and my dearest friend is planning her son’s and she asked me this week what to do instead of that since it’s been done to death.</p>

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<p>Parent 56: Sorry to hear about your S and the cyst situation. Hope he can see a doctor and perhaps some blood work will provide an answer for the metal detector alerts…I also know from experience (as per CaliD) that you can call the College Board and get AP scores by phone by answering a few questions to identify your S (and of course paying with credit card).</p>

<p>BUandBC82 and sailorette: Enjoy your vacations! Safe travels.</p>

<p>Laf: Sorry to hear about your D with the Y experience. Also sending good thoughts that she gets her certification so she can continue working and that you get that refund!</p>

<p>DB: That stinks about your SIL being laid off! Wishing her the best in finding another job. Hope her many years of experience will serve her well in getting something she likes asap.</p>

<p>Teenage: Sorry to hear about your Bat Mitzvah experience…Congrats on your first driving lesson and feeling good about it. Here’s to continued success and safety.</p>

<p>Wishing all a good afternoon. Off to BB&B to help my friend. My H always says I’d be a good personal shopper! :)</p>

<p>:cool: :cool:</p>

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<p>Zoosermom - I thought the scrubs sounded cute, but that’s probably because neither of my kids ever received those. Both of my kids use the sports bags they received as party favors, and the beach towels have been useful. </p>

<p>t_c - congrats on learning to drive - a good skill to have before you go off to college.</p>