<p>LOL at me being the voice of sanity! Not much chance of that, acm. But I do think that any of the other possibilities are more likely than an 18-year old girl not having a FB account. :D</p>
<p>t_c - nice of you to take the time to spend with your grandfather. You sound like my D who has also said that she’d like to have children while she’s young. I think her reasoning is pretty similar to yours.</p>
<p>I like all the positive comments about kids! DS cleaned the kitchen a couple of times this week without being asked! He was also very civil when we went to the beach with my friend and her two boys today. What a beautiful Maine day it was!</p>
<p>Oops, forgot to post something positive about my D. Can I get back to you all tomorrow? She promised to start clearing out her room/packing after work tomorrow. 
Actually, the nicest thing I can say is that she’s being a great big sister these days, and I know that my S is going to miss her at least as much as I will.</p>
<p>Hey, just checking in from Big D. Ds2’s team won the mock trial competition. He was so excited.</p>
<p>Love all these nice stories. Thanks for playing, and keep 'em coming! My boys also are incredibly patient with little kids and the old folk. Moreso than me with my parents. :o</p>
<p>Oh, right! Good things about my parents! There are many…which to choose?</p>
<p>A lot of people joke that most doctors’ children end up going into medicine (whether through actual interest or through familial pressure), and neither me nor my brother will. However, despite the fact that I know my father would love for me to be a doctor specifically, he knows that through his own career choices he has taught me to work hard, take any opportunity to learn, and help others. I see everyday how much impact my father actually has on his patients’ lives, and I know how respected and well-liked he is by his colleagues and by his patients. They give him warm cards and personalized gifts; his secretaries always get him, and just him, balloons for his birthday. I know that my father isn’t perfect, but he is a good, hard-working and kind person as well as being a great father.</p>
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<p>t-c, I was just thinking about this very thing the other day. My mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, and went thru almost 5 years of chemo - remission - more chemo before passing away early last year. My daughter was 11 and son was 14 when Mom was diagnosed, and unfortunately I’m afraid D will mostly remember her grandmother as someone who tired easily, and who we re-arranged and limited our activities when we were around her, because she couldn’t do a lot of the active things we like to do. D & S’s other grandmother has slowed down significantly just in the last few years, due to knee problems. D said recentlythat she felt sorry for the younger grandchildren, because she remembers my MIL playing with her & S, swimming, riding bikes and such, and she can’t really do a lot of those things any more so the younger grandkids won’t ever know her that way.</p>
<p>Insightful for you to recognize that! And I never thought about that before, but it’s another reason I’m glad we had our kids young. We got married at 24, had S at 26 and D at 29. We’ll have an empty nest this fall, when we turn 48. (Party! Party! Party! lol)</p>
<p>Here’s an interesting article for those of you with students attending college in or near these locations:</p>
<p>[10</a> Great Cities For Young Adults - Yahoo! Real Estate](<a href=“http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-great-cities-for-young-adults.html]10”>http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-great-cities-for-young-adults.html)</p>
<p>:cool: 
</p>
<p>Good article FAP. My two favorite cities are on the list!</p>
<p>FindAPlace is he a professor at USC? you’re funny but no …i’m a proud parent of a Trustee Scholar thank god because i could never afford the cost!!!</p>
<p>Whoo hoo, Austin is on the list! I will tell DS.</p>
<p>Chicago is on the list also, for all of us parents of UC, NU, etc.</p>
<p>Of course, I just realize that list may strike terror in the hearts of parents who hope their kids return to the home region after college … my apology.</p>
<p>:cool: </p>
<p>I certainly don’t suggest having kids as young as I did (had my D1 when I was 18, D2 at 21 and S3 at 23), I will say they have good memories of my Mom, one of their grandfathers and dear memories of their late grandmother. They are also blessed to know 2 great aunts and uncles and my grandmother, their great-grandmother. While I know they also don’t have many memories of him, they do have some of my grandfather and I treasure those as well.</p>
<p>Why I love my parents: today at the end of dinner, my dad reminded me to bring a first-aid kit to college. He is normally very reticent and uninvolved, but little things like that remind me how much he cares even if he never says a word to show it.</p>
<p>YDS… nice stuff about my youngin’s</p>
<p>D1 - I am really proud of her deciding to stick out one more year of school to finish her Master’s instead of staying in LA to work. Also proud of her for offering a place for another intern girl from her school to live with her in LA for several days until she could find a safe place (the girl’s original apt. turned out to be a “rat trap” in a bad neighborhood as it was described to me). The girl had been temporarily living with her BF’s parents (who she did not know) while she looked for a place… The BF was still in VA, I’m sure that was awkward.</p>
<p>D2 - I’m sure that the drama (positive and negative) of April and May 1st is still fresh in some of our minds. After much debate, stress, crying, etc., etc., etc. I am proud that D2 was able to decide to go with her heart and accept at the college of her dreams while it would have been easier emotionally, logistically, and financially to go with some of her other options. Like she said… “You know that I have never done anything the easy way. Why start now?” D2 has always had a very strong sense of justice and empathy for others (for want of a better way to describe it). She was the first person ever to be accepted at Princeton from her HS. They wanted to make an announcement at the school the next day, but D2 asked them not to because she knew other students that had applied there, were rejected and disappointed. Given the other students’ feelings, she felt like that was just not an appropriate time to make a "big deal"of it. Along those same lines, even though it meant more work for her, D2 purposefully asked some of the “less talented” dancers at her school to be in her Senior Choreography routine because she knew that the other seniors would only ask “the best” dancers. You know what? They did every bit as good as everyone else! Ever since she was very young, D2 has always had this extremely elevated sense of fairness… very strange.</p>
<p>If I may…</p>
<p>DW - I’m so proud of her for being able to keep it together with a new job in the middle of all the hospital, internship, graduation, college, etc. drama the past few months. She is the one that really holds this family together while I spend half my life in airports.</p>
<p>Well D’s favorite city is on that list and it’s where she is going to school in! If she has her way she will never return to live fulltime here on the westcoast (boo hoo!). But it’s great that we can visit her in NYC. </p>
<p>My D’s have grandparents at opposite ends of the age spectrum. They never knew H’s died as he died long before they were born, but his mom will be 94 this year and is still doing well. She does not live close so we the girls don’t see her too often. My parents on the other hand are in their mid 60’s and extremely active. They live less than 1 1/2 hours away and have always been very involved with their grandkids.</p>
<p>GSharp, your kind words about your DW are very sweet!</p>
<p>T_C you are a good egg!</p>
<p>Keil, it’s great that your dad’s particular way of showing love.</p>
<p>Very, very kind words, GSharp. You sound like a very devoted dad and husband; your family is lucky.</p>
<p>We had our two somewhat young as well. I was 26 when D was born and 30 when son was born. Because of the way their birthdays fell, they’re 5 grades apart. I actually LOVE it. I feel like my son will get to have a lot of quality time with us in high school while his sister is away at college. </p>
<p>I totally lost my temper this morning and went off on D. She took my curling iron without asking, and I had a meeting with my boss. She has several curling irons but not one with the same size barrel as mine. Although she was wrong, I said some nasty things I now regret and feel horrible. Can anyone relate?</p>
<p>jc40, I can totally relate. My D has gotten into the habit of walking into my closet and helping herself to my clothes without asking. We got into it last week. While I may have used unkind words, my anger was justified!</p>
<p>Please allow me to vent. Today I was inspired to cook dinner. Caribbean jerk chicken and rice…etc. and I even baked cupcakes (my friend texted me fr DC describing a yummy cupcake place there). Now, I’ll be eating alone. S call to say he was going to In-n-Out w/friends, D was invited to dinner w/her golf team and DH is joining them. My youngest is so picky, she’s practically a vegetarian. Oh well, they’re getting leftovers tomorrow!</p>