<p>zoosermom - We do live near each other, but most of the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs I went to were in other parts of the city so maybe that explains it.</p>
<p>ks and LIMOM - thanks!</p>
<p>
I bet that’s exactly right.</p>
<p>Hi parents of 2014 from a 2013 parent:</p>
<p>Something crossed my mind that I wanted to share - and this may only apply to TX, but it’s something handy to know and it may be common to all states. On the back of TX driver’s licenses in small print at the bottom: Texas Roadside Assistance 1-800-and the rest of the number of course. I understand that it connects the caller with the nearest PD or state trooper maybe. We actually have never used the number and only found out about it AFTER the one time we needed it. My daughter had a flat alongside the interstate on her way back to college on a Thanksgiving weekend. Yes, we have a roadside assistance policy but due to a backlog of calls things weren’t going smoothly. My husband reached her first - she was only about an 1 1/2 hours from home. Still I got a few gray hairs waiting til he reached her. If I remember correctly another 2013 parent had a son sitting somewhere in the northeast that same weekend waiting for roadside assistance for hours - and they too had a policy that should have worked better than it did. Anyway, check those driver’s licenses and let your young adult know if he/she has this option. (Maybe if your kid’s coming to TX, you can just stick the number on his/her license yourself.)</p>
<p>“His sleep schedule is quite altered from HS, so I reminded him he might not have it so nice when he hits college.” [ok, I haven’t learned to do the quote thing].</p>
<p>My S is looking forward to sleeping IN for his 8 am class! I guess having a job that starts at 6 am has its advantages.</p>
<p>I never heard of the T-shirt, sweatshirt thing for Bar/Bat Mitzvah favors either.</p>
<p>^^thanks so much Igantius! We are from TX and I never knew that!</p>
<p>My D’s sleep patterns are driving me CRAZY!! She is up unitl all hours and then wants to sleep in until 12:00 or 1:00…and she has an 8:00 class in the fall…I don;t know what she is going to do!</p>
<p> 
Thinking of you today, sewemma, and sending love, prayers, and hugs.</p>
<p>GSharpM7 - You make me laugh… My husband and I will have to check out “The End”. I am sure our son will be too busy studying to go out at night. 
Our son, too, is much more social this summer. We know his friends well and we always know where he is (close to food) and he checks in (usually) if he is going to be later than he told us. I am home in the summer, and like to stay up late, so waiting up for him is my job. I actually enjoy ‘chatting’ with him when he gets home. We have the whole ‘remember to call if you need a ride’ conversation at least once a month. So far, no calls. Summer isn’t over yet… BTW, we did have to pick up our daughter two times the summer before she went off to college and she’s turning out okay. 
</p>
<p>Sailorette - I am sorry to hear about your dear daughter. Knowing she can talk to you and that she has your support, no matter what, is just what she needs right now.</p>
<p>Welcome, tango. Congratulations to you and your son. </p>
<p>jc40 - I’m glad all is well on your orientation/vacation excursion. Loved the measuring story. I’m sure the others were jealous that they didn’t have a tape measure. </p>
<p>2education - Lucky you! Post 2014. 
</p>
<p>anothercrazymom - Hope you’re enjoying a book on the beach right now. :)</p>
<p>mommusic - Enjoy NYC and your son and daughter-in-law. Fun!</p>
<p>veewhitty - Your mantra is right on. Thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>jambaby - I hope the shopping trip was a success.</p>
<p>I’m enjoying all the Bar/Bat Mitzvah stories. Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of a beach towel. That would get used at my house.</p>
<p>kindredspirit - Thank you so much for the effort you are putting into making us doughnuts. It must be a little harder when it is so hot and humid! Thanks! I hope your BB&B trip is a good one. What a lucky friend you have! I am wishing the best for your dear daughter as she connects with her UPenn classmates. Sounds like fun!</p>
<p>zoosermom - You crack me up! Your son sounds like a p*sser, too! And this: “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.” I don’t think I would be able to keep quiet on this one… She could be in danger. What is her parents’ phone number? I will give them a wake-up call.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn - Have a wonderful weekend! College will be great for your son. Hopefully he will have a roommate/friends who are organizers. Our son is not an organizer, so we are grateful that some of his buddies are good at that.</p>
<p>CaliforniaDancer - I hope they fix the mistake quickly. Frustrating.</p>
<p>teenage_cliche - Yay! I’m glad your driving lesson went well. It is always interesting to me that kids in other parts of the country don’t drive as early as they do here. Our public transportation has not been great (it’s improving!) so a license is a good part of being independent here. Unfortunately, we own four cars. Three are worth < $7000. I drive the other one. :)</p>
<p>BUandBC82 - Have a great trip!</p>
<p>aliceinw - Glad your son has found his ‘people’ this summer. Good luck on the room cleaning. Confession - I filled out our son’s medical forms and had him sign them, otherwise they would have been returned with a note saying something like, “Please try again. We need to be able to read this information.” I included a copy of the front and back of his insurance card and a copy of his immunization record. I haven’t heard anything – yet – so maybe it was okay.</p>
<p>parent56 - Very weird about the metal detector. It could be a ganglion cyst. Wait a minute… why am I telling you this? You know the doctor…</p>
<p>Yikes, RobD. Can you cool it down next month? Say around the 20th? Wishing your husband a speedy recovery!</p>
<p>Ouch, Lafalum84. That is not good. I’m hoping the right paperwork arrives very soon. {{HUGS}} On behalf of you and DougBetsy’s sister-in-law, I will join the club for today. I must say, however, that Mommy & Me swimming classes were a highlight for me and our daughter loved YMCA Horse Camp in the summers. And this: “Re: students from California - I was told that CA is the number two state represented at Boston College as well.” statement may be true. Our daughter’s best friend from college was from one of those swanky communities in CA. He is one of the nicest young men I have ever known.</p>
<p>Our dear son’s car (actually our car that we let him drive) is running again. It wasn’t the alternator, just the battery. He has two levels of heat/air conditioning. They are OFF and FULL BLAST. When he asked to have it fixed, we just smiled. Is he kidding? The car has 160,000+ miles on it.</p>
<p>I hope everyone is having a great day. It is 80 degrees here today - perfect!
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<p>This is our situation exactly. We have spends years discussing alcohol and what occurs when you drink too much, consequences of breaking laws, etc. I’m sure there is some drinking going on - although, son hasn’t exhibited any signs of it - I’m usually up and have a conversation with him when he gets home. </p>
<p>I haven’t ‘given up’ but I have backed off a little bit in the last few weeks as far as curfews, having to give me an accounting of his whereabouts, waiting up for him, etc. I do think we are rapidly entering the ‘sink or swim phase’ where you have to trust that you have done everything in your power to impart wisdom and good judgment to your child and from this point forward, it’s up to them to apply it. In reality, they are not being exposed to anything this summer (okay - except maybe the escort thing 
) that they won’t be faced with in college. I keep telling myself that the next few weeks is a good time to give him more freedom since we are still around and if anything major happens (like he shows up at home drunk) we will be able to coach him through it. When it happens in college, we, the parents, aren’t very likely to hear about it unless something tragic happens.</p>
<p>
I can say with a clear conscience that they don’t give a rat’s butt. I tried to call the mom in sophomore year (divorced, dad out of picture) because the girl was begging my D to sleep over every weekend when mom was away (guess where she was?) and the mom was completely unreceptive. I pray that when the friend leaves for college things will turn around. She’s going to a top school with a big reputation and I’m hoping that peer pressure will kick in.</p>
<p>^Yikes! This makes me really sad. I, too, will hope that the positive peer pressure will help this girl.</p>
<p>Help please…has anyone ordered college bedding etc from the Associated Student Agencies. They have some very good deals and so convenient esp. for us as we live continents away. Does anyone have an idea of the quality of the stuff they offer? Their value packs seem too good to be true!</p>
<p>zoosermom - sad about your D’s friend, but it reminded me of a story. Many years ago, a woman I worked with decided she wanted to move out of her parents’ house (we were both in our twenties at the time). She looked at the “Help Wanted” ads in the Village Voice and called one that was listed under “College Grads.” The woman she spoke to asked her to describe herself, and so she started telling her about her education and work history, and the woman interrupted her and said, “No, I meant what do you look like?” My co-worker started describing herself, then realized that it was an unusual question from a potential employer, so she asked what kind of company she was calling - it was an escort service!</p>
<p>Oh, and I wanted to wish mommusic and ML’s S a fun time in NYC this weekend.</p>
<p>If I don’t stay on top of this thread, I am lost.</p>
<p>Two things stuck out in my quick read:</p>
<p>1) Escort??? <em>thud</em></p>
<p>2) Like MomLive, I haven’t “given up,” but this whole past year has been an exercise in letting go. As of senior year, I quit calling parents who were hosting a party. I had to trust ds to make the right choices. As I said earlier, I know he wouldn’t drink and drive, so I put my foot down at sleepovers, because I knew that he then could drink and not drive if he wanted. He told me as much – that knowing he wouldn’t drive until the morning would make it more likely he’d drink. And, yup, that’s what finally happened last weekend as the first sleepover he attended with four other boys. Parents provided the beer (I’m amazed at the number of parents who would do that; liability, anyone?), and ds had two. I’m not shocked. He and I have talked about how I think the drinking age should be 18 (the whole “if you can die for your country why can’t you have a beer?” thinking) and so I don’t expect him to be either a tee-totaler or sexually abstinent at college, but that I DID expect for him to get out of HS without partaking in either. And as far as I know, he’s held up his part of the bargain. Now, it’s my turn to not be shocked, shocked that this kind of thing is going on, even among the “good kid” crowd.</p>
<p>While I’d like for him to never have another drink in his life, it’s not reasonable to think it won’t happen. Besides, all the other growth I’ve seen in him since school got out helps me know that he’s doing just about everything else right.</p>
<p>I’ve been working on letting go, too. It’s very hard.</p>
<p>I asked her last night “do you promise that you’re going to take good care of my baby?” She said yes and I guess that’s the best I can hope for.</p>
<p>As King Triton said at the end of The Little Mermaid: “I guess there’s just one problem left. . . . How much I’m going to miss her.”</p>
<p>@ Tango, it appears the collegebedding isnt of very good quality. Perhaps you may want to order online and have it shipped so the shipment will coincide with your DS’s arrival. However, try to at least send him off with a pre-washed set if possible :D</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/959280-quality-yales-associated-student-agencies-bed-linen-packages.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/959280-quality-yales-associated-student-agencies-bed-linen-packages.html</a></p>
<p>tango… dont know that particular company but various reviews on those dorm linen sets/info sent by the schools… generally viewed as cheaper quality but the convenience may be great for you.</p>
<p>i googled iron in blood and airport detectors, apparently it can happen! sent him an email to have his iron checked…but dr not in town so may be a week</p>
<p>Everyone have wonderful weekends ! Sounds like lots of plans have been made. Trying to get in every last ounce of fun before summer ends. :)</p>
<p>Taking D shopping tomorrow for school clothes. (She’s the upcoming 8th grader). Took S last week for clothes & dorm stuff. We were planning to go next weekend instead, but found a few sales we cannot resist. Aeropostale jeans - buy 1 get 1 free. That is a big deal when you are 13.</p>
<p>We haven’t seen S much this summer either. He works during the week from noon - about 7:00. We’ve always had the ‘agreement’ that as long as you’re honest with us where you are & what you’re doing and you’re home on time, you can pretty well go whenever/wherever you want. School nights, it’s home by 10:00, weekends are still midnight.</p>
<p>I remind him that the curfew on weeknights during the summer isn’t necessarily to restrict him, but that his father & I still have to get up the next morning for work. It’s a matter of being respectful to others in the house.</p>
<p>If he goes out of town, I stay up until he comes home. We are in a small town. It is 22 miles to the closest movie theater & sometimes they’re a little outdated. The next movie theater is an hour. Wal Mart is 28 miles. The same if they want to go out to eat. If he’s going to be driving, I’m awake.</p>
<p>If he’s just running around town or over at friends, I go to bed, but he has to wake me up when he comes in.</p>
<p>A friend of mine has a college Junior at home this summer that just turned 21. She has stressed to him also that he is coming home to 2 younger HS brothers that look up to him. Although he is 21, he also has a responsibility to set an example for them. </p>
<p>Just when you think going away to college is the ‘hard’ thing…</p>
<p>It is nice to see my S doing more with his friends (and even little sis) lately than just hanging with the girlfriend. She’s adoreable, but time to move on. I’m anxious to hear about his new friends from college.</p>
<p>I will second Yds’ succinct escort response <em>thud</em></p>
<p>Just bought tickets for D, D’s friend and ME to go see Lady Gaga Monday in Houston. I am really looking forward to it as this will probably be our last big girls’ adventure before she leaves for college. But worried I won’t be able to find anything “fun” to wear. Guess I may have to do some shopping this weekend. :)</p>
<p>^^^ Good point. Ds2 so admires his big brother that setting a good example is part of the deal. They are FB friends, so ds2 sees everything ds1 is doing. I think that will be the hard part of ds1 coming home from college; I’m prepared to treat him differently, but it’s a balancing act with a younger one at home.</p>
<p>*** feeling sheepish *** Guess what came in the mail today? D’s Lifeguard certification. Well, it’s been 5 weeks since the class, so it’s about time!</p>
<p>I haven’t heard much good about the linens you can order thru colleges. Honestly, it’s easy to get sheets relatively cheaply for Twin XL thru JC Penney, Target, BB&B, etc. You could order from them and have it shipped to your kid’s college PO box, and pick it up when you get there.</p>
<p>lol laf… they heard we were coming!!</p>