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

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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cool, mathmom! sounds very complicated for testing.

in COLLEGE news, DS will not graduate in June. Even shuffling some of his electives around, he is still missing 2 required courses. Not his fault as they haven’t been offered. He talked to his advisor (about time!) and got some advice, but forgot to see if he has to go another quarter, will he still get the TA-ship to pay for it. Kind of important for someone who has been living on it! He just assumed nothing would change. He also did ask, though, if he could work and get the class done. But he forgot to consider that maybe the employer might have something to say about that. He wants this specialty major and none other. (Master’s program). He’d actually be perfectly happy to take lots more classes and work part-time. He is happy, which is great.

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esobay, that would drive me as a Mom crazy. But I suspect it will all work out. It really bugs me that schools can require courses that they then don’t offer. A million years ago I was supposed to take a one year art theory course for my major. It was a dumb course and I put it off every year - my senior year they had a visiting professor teach it and he was only there one semester. Lucky for me they changed the requirement to one semester for me.

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Stopping in to tell everyone Happy Valentine’s Weekend!

WooHoo, according to my surgeon I should be fully functional in just 2 more weeks!

LIMOMOF2 – Sending PVCs to your D also!
Since D2 signed up for her 401k, the investment vultures swooped in and asked her about her assets… “Do you have any stocks, bonds ,etc.?” Her response, “I have an address, a bed, and a dresser that is too small so I keep some of my stuff in a suitcase.” That should fend off the vultures for a while. :wink:
Oh, and I still have most of my Max Brenner intact since the surgery killed my appetite for a while. According to my email, I am missing out on significant health benefits…
http://maxbrenner.com/blog/the-health-benefits-of-chocolate/1863

Mathmom – It sounds like things went well for S2. Sending PVCs his way also!

Heck, that sounds like marriage training!.. Wait, who said that? :wink:

Esobay – So why is it that they always seem the happiest when you’re the most exasperated? :wink:

In post-college news, things have come full circle and D2 has been doing alumni interviews for prospective UG students. She told me that one of her interviewees was so nervous during the interview that D2 had to tell her not to worry about it because “I cried right after my interview because I thought that I did so badly and they still let me in.” :wink: Continuing the full circle theme, D2 has been invited to an “Admitted Students” weekend for PhD students. She’s going and happy that this time they will pay for her expenses to attend. :wink:

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Good morning and Happy Saturday!

GSharp - good to hear that you’re recovering and will be fully functional in a couple of weeks. Hope you’re able to rest comfortably for now. Also hope you’re able to put more of a dent in your Max Brenner’s chocolates - just in case you receive chocolate this weekend.

Yay for your D2 being invited to a paid “Admitted Students” visit! Glad she’ll be attending. That’s great that she’s doing alumni interviews for prospective UG students. Hopefully, she was able to reassure her nervous interviewee. It was sweet of her to try. :slight_smile: I expect my D will get involved with an alumni group as soon as she lives in an area that has one.

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Happy to report that … what a minute … jbehlend is about to become a G-parent for the first time! DD reported back in early Feb that this was forthcoming. DW is still trying to figure out what she wants to be called. Consensus is “Grammie”, as that is what DW called her GM, who has now passed away, but is still near-and-dear to our hearts. I’m perfectly happy with “Grandpa”. Appreciate any inputs.

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Congratulations, jbehlend!! I am so not ready for that milestone - luckily, my children are probably less ready than I am. Nonetheless, enjoy the anticipation and keep us posted on the big event, as well as the winner of the naming contest.

Limom - waving to you, and sending good wishes for the rest of your D’s school year. Does she plan to come home afterwards?

Gsharp - So nice to hear that your D2 is “giving back” as an alumni interviewer, and that she has the opportunity to attend an admitted students day. Is she still waiting for other results, or has she narrowed things down? Hope you are close to fully functional these days.

Mathmom - So cool that your S2 has done so well with testing for OTS - Here’s hoping he makes it over the rest of the hurdles and finds a good spot for himself there.

Esobay - it would frustrate me to no end to have required courses that are not offered. But it sounds as if your S is happy, and enjoys being in school, so maybe it’s not so bad. Best wishes to him as he works things out.

My S continues to work at his software development job, and is beginning a volunteer commitment to teach robotics to middle schoolers - as a way to test the waters and see if he is as interested in teaching as he thinks he is. Seems like a good place to start. My D thinks she has finalized her application to study linguistics and literary studies in a multilingual masters program in Brussels, but the computer application system is a bit hard to follow. I suggested she call them, and when she tried she learned that her phone did not allow international calls to be made at all. I fixed that this morning. So our fingers are crossed that she can call tomorrow and get some update on her status. She has started the process of a visa application (getting fingerprinted, getting a TB test . . .) so that she will not be behind if she is able to go. As for me, I am thoroughly enjoying retirement. Today I am studying some yoga philosophy, writing up some notes from a trip I took to Ukraine as part of a volunteer project two weeks ago, and going out to dinner with friends. Gotta love it.

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g#, so a couple of weeks are done, you back in the airport? life is just rushing along for your D2! congrats to her.

jblend, CONGRATULATIONS! how exciting. My bro is having his second grandbaby. I am pretty sure I won’t see any, but you never know. My dad always said growing up that he didn’t want to be called Grandpaw, any name but that! and guess what my bro’s kids (orchestrated by his wife who probably hadn’t heard the granpa issues) … now he says any name is a good name. He now lives with my brother so has been enchanted by his great grand son’s first 2 years.

alice, so will you be visiting Brussels soon? I used to love retirement, but lately I’ve been so busy…

mathmom, yeah, at least with DS we learned (pretty well) in HS that we had to shrug off whatever seemed like missteps for DS and let him march to his own drummer. Can’t say I let it ALL go, but I am more detached from “saving” him as time goes on. For example, it is two weeks to the end of the quarter and he hasn’t signed up for next quarter’s classes yet. Nor has he gone back to the profs where he took classes pass/fail to ask for a grade so that they can count towards his degree. Maybe he will need 4 more classes, who knows. And that is the only college stuff I can think of!

Both kids are coming over (soon-ish) to do their taxes. drama insued last year for DD and hers. Hope it is better this year.

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Hi everyone, I’m popping in from posting in the Class of 2020 thread (yep, my youngest is starting HS next year). DS’14 is out in the working world. He’s still enjoying his first career job. Pay isn’t as high as in the big city but he’s happily thriving working in a small 6-employee marketing firm. He is gaining experience in many facets of this business which is a definite plus. He is also working as a drum line instructor for his alma mater’s band. He gets to do something he loves and gets paid a stipend for it. He also reported that he bought a toaster oven this weekend. This is the first time in years he’s mention anything about his kitchen and cooking!

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Greetings all!!!

I am posting from home. Unfortunately, it is because my nearly 105 YO grandmother passed away and I flew home early to attend the funeral. I still haven’t figured out the correct response to “Was it expected?” Anyway, it was a very nice, small service and D1 was able to attend… she and my grandmother developed a bond because my grandmother spent a few Christmas Eves with us before she was not physically able to do so anymore. D2 was really too little to remember much about my grandmother. I never knew any of my great-grandparents.

I am considering myself “recovered” at this point or as my doctor put it, I am “Perfectly Normal.” Little does he know. :wink:

Jbelend – Gotta start with Congratulations to you and your DD!!! We’re not sure that we will ever have grandchildren since both of our kids were raised by bad parents. :wink:

LIMOMOF2 – I have just a little Max Brenner left. :wink: BTW, in case I am otherwise occupied next week, Happy Early Birthday! (Yours is easy to remember)

Aliceinw – Wait, your S volunteered to herd cats, I mean work with middle schoolers? Clearly, he is up for sainthood. :wink: How are things working out for your D? Is she Brussels-bound?

Esobay – How did the great 2015 Tax Get Together work out? Hopefully reduced drama? :wink:

Lilmom – Thanx for popping in and giving us the update on Chef Lil-DS? Oooh, a toaster oven, things are getting serious. :wink:

D2 attended her “Admitted Students” days and called to tell me how much she liked the professors, current students (inc. her host), and other admitted students. She said that current students all looked exhausted and like they needed a week of sleep which I think is a check-mark in the “plus” column for her. :wink: Another “plus” was that her advisor said that he selected her because her answers were “off center” which is something that they look for… hmmmm. She also liked that the university uses the “British Tutorial System” (whatever that means exactly) even though it is in the US. The current students said that the stipend is more than adequate to live decently. She is almost 100% sure that she is going to matriculate even though she will have to leave NYC. Of course her lease is up on June 1 and she wants to work as long as possible, so she may be couch surfing for a couple of months.

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Hello there!

Alice - waving back! :slight_smile: Good thinking on your S’s part.

Since you asked, D’s plans are still up in the air, and I know that it’s making her a little crazy.

Did your kids ever get their taxes done? S got back a whopping $1 federal refund. Woohoo!

Lilmom - thanks for the update!

GSharp - so sorry for your loss. Nice that your D1 had developed a relationship with your grandmother. My kids got to know a couple of their great grandmothers which was kind of nice for all of them.

Glad to hear that you’re fully recovered. Now you can come back to visit your D2 in NYC and pick up some more Max Brenner’s. Thanks for the early birthday wishes! S will be home on spring break that week, so we’ll be spending the day together - and the following weekend, I’ll be visiting D. Wishing your D2 a very happy birthday! Will you and your DW be celebrating with her?

It sounds like your D2 has made her grad school decision? Can’t wait to hear where she’ll be heading.

D got into two of her three schools and she’s still waiting to hear from the third - she said that response won’t come in until the end of April - crazy! She plans to attend the open house for accepted students at the end of this month at the school that I think is her first choice. There are lots of pros and cons for each of her programs, so she’s got some thinking to do.

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DS hasn’t gotten taxes done yet but we have. As of this year, he is no longer our dependent. :frowning:

Good luck to your D, LIMOM.

GSharp, wow, we should all be so blessed to live to 105 like your grandmother. My condolences…

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My condolences GSharp.

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OMG! I can’t believe this thread is still active. I’m in the middle of admissions craziness with my younger one but my D14 is gainfully employed and paying off her student loans. She hates her job but the pay is good and she’s always on the lookout for something better. I’m pushing for grad school.

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Nice to see you, lilmom - thanks for stopping by. It’s good to know that your 2014 S is employed, and that you still have a little one (better you than me!).

Nice to see you too, Queen’s Mom. Did someone announce “old home month” without telling me? It’s good to know that your 2014 D is also employed, though it’s too bad she isn’t happy with her job. I hope she finds a better one or learns to love this one in the not too distant future. Sounds like you also have a younger one, though not as young as lilmom’s. Good luck with the admissions rat race!

esobay - I hope your kids’ taxes are going smoothly. I am locked in TaxAct limbo - having switched over from Turbo Tax and having surfaced problems they seem to need to refer to whomever put together the Massachusetts programming (it’s giving me errors that I don’t think are errors).

GSharp - My condolences on the loss of your grandmother. Sounds like your D’s plans are firming up. Best of luck to her in making a final decision and in the transition.

LIMomof2 - It’s great to hear that your D has received some grad school admissions. Keep us posted as she makes her decision.

My D has still not received an admissions decision from the Free University of Brussels (Dutch version, not to be confused with the French university of the same name, but in a different language). There is every reason to expect that she will be admitted, but it would sure be nice to have it confirmed. She and my S are planning a bicycle trip around Italy in June, so she needs to be able to send her passport to the Belgian embassy and get it back before she leaves for that trip, and she’s a little concerned that the timing will get tight if she doesn’t hear very soon, because of course she can’t send in her application until she has a favorable admissions decision. In the meantime, she has contracted with a service that takes care of the FBI report (to confirm to the Belgian government that she does not have a criminal record). It does seem a bit ironic, their focusing on my D as a potential problem in their country, doesn’t it?

Happy Tuesday to all - hope your spring is going well.

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They switched recruiters on my son and half his transcripts (he has three from abroad programs in addition to the one from Tufts) have vanished into the ether. So he’s still waiting for the next step!

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Happened to stop by and wanted to send my condolences to G Sharp…

As for what is going? DD (HS 2010) is preparing for grad school in the fall - Masters in Psychology. She plans to become a therapist. DS (HS 2008 but who makes an appearance in this thread occasionally), is working in Investment Banking in Charlotte.

DW and I sold the family house and are currently renting while deciding on where next. Prices in this area were just going nuts and we wanted to cash out. I’m still traveling constantly - should cross 3 Million lifetime miles on United this year…

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I am also thinking of selling the house once my last one leaves for college.

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Thank you all for the kind words about D. She’s got some big decisions to make.

Alice - I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for your D. Also, I think it’s great that your kids are planning to take that trip together.

Hi to everyone else!

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Hi All been a long time since I visited last. Good to read and catch up on all who still post here and amazing that some of you still have kids launching from HS. Glad to hear of how all the young adults are moving forward in their lives. I can not believe where all these years have gone, crazy. Condolences G# and congrats Jbelend and good wishes to all. I will be joining you jbelend in the ranks of new grandparenthood as my DD who married last Oct was apparently very productive on her honeymoon and is expecting in July. I barely caught my breath after her wedding. She is finishing her 2nd year of PHD with 3 or more to go??, so suffice it to say she is a busy momma to be. Should be an interesting ride. Ahh retirement sounds so tempting so I could move nearer to DD and baby sit but that is not yet to be. Always a pleasure popping in here such a great community!

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Greetings fellow earthlings! Could I get one of you to call DW and reminder her that she is picking me up at the airport this week? :wink:

Thank you for the condolences for my grandmother. The D’s were going through a box of stuff that my mother had for them from my grandmother. D1 was interested in some of the jewelry while D2 snarkily said, “I think I’d rather have the gun!” Yeah, my grandmother was a bit eccentric! :wink:

Queen’s Mom – Welcome Back! D14 being gainfully employed and paying off student loans is a good thing. However, D1 went through the same thing on the job enjoyment front and that is what pushed her to grad school.

LIMOMOF2 – Thanks for letting me use your city last weekend (see below). Best of luck to your DD in the decision making process! D2 has made her decision (see below).

AliceinW – So, have the admissions and travel planets aligned for your D?

Mathmom – Sorry that your S is caught up in planetary discord!

Coskat – Congratulations to you and your highly productive DD. You said it, not me. :wink:

Scualum – It would appear that the little SCUs have all of their ducks (ostriches?) in a row.

Re: Selling the house. DW and I have been kicking around the idea and have downloaded Zillow and checked out houses in the Williamsburg area. We’re not too serious about it yet though.

DW and I took an impromptu trip to NYC last weekend for a belated birthday celebration for D2. I easily got in all of my “steps” walking around and waiting for them to finish looking at shoes. :wink: I got in a few more “steps” on our Father/Daughter birthday trip to D2’s favorite place… The Met. Of course, we erased those “steps” by going to a recommended restaurant followed by a later trip to Café Lalo for desserts. Oh well, belated Happy Birthday to D2! I sort of received a birthday present in the form of a FB post by D2 of a picture of us in Central Park with the caption, “Thanks to my dad for teaching me that it is OK to be a geek and to not be ashamed of it.” That is a good thing, right? :wink:

In the not-so-good news for D2, she had to travel to DC for work this week. Unfortunately, when she went to the dry cleaners to pick up her clothes for the trip there was a slight problem. The dry cleaners had burned to the ground with her clothes inside! Lucky she found out early enough to buy replacement clothes before leaving for DC, ugh! She is not happy as some of her favorite clothes are lost.

However, the good (?) news is that she has made a decision and it appears that D2 will be in the “and Beyond” category for the next 6 years while she works on her PhD. After much trepidation, she mailed her matriculation letter to her new school last week. (I’m not posting the school name here, but PM me if you care where she is headed) I think that she will miss NYC terribly, but felt that she may never get this opportunity again. So, she will be having another college move-in this summer after finding temporary housing for the summer in NYC so that she can keep working. Oh yay!