<p>Hello all. I’m another long time lurker. Reading your experiences have really helped me during these last few months. My only child, a daughter, is heading out from Nashville, TN to Pitzer College on August 25. She picked the actual farthest place imaginable! But we are happy for her. It’s a great fit. She wants to study Environmental Analysis, and she loves backpacking and rock climbing so she might well never come home! But the positive changes in her outlook since the day she took her last AP exam make me think she is going to be just fine. I’m so excited for her and her new adventures. And as long as she is happy and smiling, I think all is well in the world.</p>
<p>eyemamom - Well, I sent the dog in to wake him up - which means he got jumped on and licked in the face for five minutes :).</p>
<p>And $500 later - we’re pretty set. And that doesn’t include his comforter set, I had already bought that. </p>
<p>I had to buy alot of clothes because he had lost ALOT of weight - 62 lbs to date. He started at 220 and yesterday he weighed 158. He has always been heavy but when I brought a treadmill into the house in January and proclaimed I was dieting, he pulled me over and said he wanted to as well. Of course after much talking, encouragement and exercise - we’ve done great. He’s gone from a XXL to a M/L depending on what it is. And I’m down 25 lbs - a 14/16 to a 10. It’s been a great ride for both of us. And we’re still working at it. He’d like to drop to 150 and I’d like to drop another 10 lbs. The best part is that we are eating so much better. And he’s learned so much about what to eat, portion control and what choices are better. So it’s been a good spring and summer. :)</p>
<p>I’ll “de-lurk” as well. I check CC almost daily, to my family’s amusement. I’ve gotten so much useful information from this site, which I pass on to my friends who don’t check CC. Wish I’d found it before my oldest went to college (he just graduated in May-debt free and with a job!). D is attending Kenyon-we’re already on the CC list. She has to be there 8/17 for her sport, and she’s both excited and terrified. Many thanks to all you regular posters for all your valuable comments. Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>kleibo, the weight loss achievement is amazing! Warmest congratulations to both of you!</p>
<p>Your DS is going to be so well prepared to make good choices about eating and exercise at college, too.</p>
<p>kleibo, that is amazing!</p>
<p>rerunagain, DS went to his dentist and he is not yet ready for his teeth to come down. Even though he is 17 he is a late bloomer and looks more like a 16 yo, though he has just grown another inch this summer. I can’t imagine what he will look like by the time he comes back next summer.</p>
<p>So glad I decided to join this new thread after lurking for so long! It’s great to read all the new additions and ongoing advice. Had a crazy afternoon - decided to run out and pick up a “few more things” for son’s launch date. Stopped at the bank on the way home and had a fender bender with another car as I was backing out of parking space. Luckily, damage to the rear of the car is only some dents and scratches and didn’t cause damage to the trunk. This is the car I’m planning on using to drive son to school in just over a week. So glad it wasn’t worse - have too much on my mind these days! Thanks for listening - your stories and responses are making things a lot easier for us newbies on the thread.</p>
<p>We survived the 90-minute meeting with the roomie’s mom yesterday. She wants to adopt my D. Thankfully, everything I hear about the roomie makes it sound as though they’ll PROBABLY get along alright, hopefully for the entire year! Both girls are pretty laid back and neither is high maintenance. </p>
<p>And for those who were taking bets… it was 45 minutes before Mary Kay was mentioned. :)</p>
<p>So glad to hear from 5boys and your gap-year S. My S packs for SLU early to go on an advanced canoe trip and I still haven’t figured out if he moves into his dorm early or just plops a pile of stuff at his dorm, but moves in on the regular day, but my S will figure it out once he returns from his little jaunt to Montreal w/ his buddies.</p>
<p>And MommyMommy … I live 25 minutes away from downtown Burlington, and my office is 15 minutes away. If you need a fellow Mom to join you at the bistro, please PM me and we can work out the details. If you go by yourself or someone else, I highly recommend Leunigs on Church Street, my favorite.</p>
<p>S launches at SLU on 8/23.</p>
<p>And speaking of piles of dorm stuff, thanks for mentioning that … I just ordered some XL sheets from Kohls online that I have been procrastinating. I suspect S’s dorm piles will be in my D’s room, as she is already launched and in college.</p>
<p>Momof 3Stars - welcome! And kudos for getting your son in for testing. My S has a friend who just graduated HS (by the skin of his teeth). His mom just got him in for some testing and he shoes ADD, anxiety, etc - I wish they’d moved on it years ago! </p>
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<p>MomfromTN, meet 5boys. I think you should fix up your D with her S! By the way - my dad’s roots are in East Tennessee, are you in that area? Believe it or not, the family farm was in Pigeon Forge.</p>
<p>GoIrish2013 - glad the damage wasn’t worse. Just what you needed right now! ;)</p>
<p>woody - you mean, she wanted to sell you Mary Kay? </p>
<p>kliebo - wow, I’m impressed! I would love to accomplish that with my youngest and my self! Way to go! 
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<p>wisdom teeth - my middle son had them out last fall (age 18). My oldest SHOULD have had them out at that age, but he’s having them out a week from Tuesday (age 21). I’m a little worried since the roots are fully formed, yada yada yada…I’m hoping to have AC by then so he can recuperate in comfort!</p>
<p>kleibo-- that is so cool-- and so difficult. I hope your son knows how awesome he is. </p>
<p>momof3stars–welcome. I’m a pediatrician, so I’m involved in a lot of ADHD evals and was the rare pediatrician in our town who actually liked to go to my patients’ IEPs. You’re doing good things now by getting your ducks in a row. Lots of kid will not need as much support, services, or even meds by high school. My former whirling dervish of an S is now doing fine in hs and will be fine in college.</p>
<p>Welcome to all the new posters. I suspect you will find this to be a great community as we move forward.</p>
<p>Two weeks from today my daughter will be having her 1st meetups with her new classmates. Some unknown but substantial number of families all picked the same hotel the day before launch day.</p>
<p>On the high achieving issue-- I wouldn’t put my D in that category. She excelled in classes where she liked the teacher, others… not so much.</p>
<p>Holy smokes!!! After making the second post and not checking till now, it took me all morning to catch up!!!</p>
<p>Welcome to all the “de-lurked”. I do agree that all of us here share helicoptering and that results in the best outcome for our kids - whatever end of the academic, EC and “fit” spectrum that happens to be for them :)</p>
<p>I love the “Empty Nest” cocktail idea and MommyMommy’s sounds the most promising to me. Now, to get supplies and give it a try!</p>
<p>I am amazed to report Dorm Mountain was created and packed up into a tidy large duffle bag mountain all in the same day!!! Her room is a wreck - shrapnel everywhere and since she’s also one of those kids spending more time with friends than home/mom, may stay messy for a few days more.</p>
<p>I know this is a long shot, but I’m looking to buy a Squaretrade warranty (drop and spill coverage) for D’s new laptop. Discount coupons seem to come out on Tuesday nights. Would anyone like to share a coupon code with me so I can buy the thing Wednesday morning (before she drops it). PM me please!</p>
<p>Does anyone have a memory of an existing CC link for online Dorm Mountain supplies? </p>
<p>XL Sheets - Kohls, BB&Beyond, etc.
Surge protectors - Radio Shack, Staples, etc.
Schools supplies - Staples
Underwear/socks - Jockey, Hanes, …</p>
<p>Is there a link somewhere here on CC that already has lists of where to buy reasonable quality dorm stuff? I want to order as much as I can online in the next week and only do car-driving shopping to get what’s left.</p>
<p>Hi everyone…I guess it is “milestone” time!! Today DH and DS and I will attend a local reception for the school. It REALLY is happening :D.</p>
<p>Wow, I love the posts today, especially yours Kleibo–what an amazing accomplishment for your S!</p>
<p>Another lurker…in fact CC often “scolds” me at the top of the page when I log in…noting that it has been a long time since my last post and encourging me to post something!
I will take a deep breath and ask that my D be added to the list…she will launch on 8/15 and be attending SMU (a college not on the current list)
I hesitated to add our decision as when she was first considering her options I was told she should “have her head examined” if she ended up picking SMU over Vandy and Duke…which kind of got my mama bear mane in a knot! But she fell in love with it on her first visit junior year (on the southern college tour) and after several more visits it has always remained her choice…
I am clinging to the edge of my composure on most days now…the thought of her not being in the house everyday is overwhelming! She is my only and it has been just the two of us since she was a baby…I thought it was only going to be me having the seperation pains but in the last few days she has become clingy and reluctant to discuss preparations for the move…I know she will be fine…it is just a huge change for our little family…new beginnings and opportunities for both of us!</p>
<p>I went to the 2012 page and found the new link here! Was feeling sad about D launching in 2 weeks. She can’t wait so DH and I put on our happy faces. Went to BBB for the last time and bought a mattress topper for under the mattress pad because D complained about the bed during orientation. She bought actual closed toe shoes and has to leave most of her beloved flipflops home. We will look online for some winter clothes next month. North Fl gets cold in the winter. I know the Yankees consider it just chilly but to her, anything in the 40’s is Arctic-like lol. She’s looking forward to getting gloves! The launch mountain in the spare room may not fit in the car :(</p>
<p>north florida is chilly :rolleyes: Kids wear shorts and t’s up here well into December. Crazy.</p>
<p>Katie93-- all that matters on the decision is that she is happy and it feels right to her.</p>
<p>Kleibo - that is soooooo cool about your son! (and you too!) He must be feeling pretty confident about his health/nutrition knowledge right before college!</p>
<p>PN - roomie’s mom is a MK senior dealer and has sold MK for 29 years. The friend she was staying with overnight in our town last night was someone who had just moved here from her state. The roomie’s mom was here to attend her annual days-long MK sales convention rah-rah kind of event. We assumed it was probably inevitable we’d hear of an opportunity to buy MK during our visit together yesterday. LOL I said I’d glance at my watch to see how long it took to be mentioned. 
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<p>Don’t worry, there were no actual sales pitches. But the friend who lives here has a job that could be very helpful to a bunch of high school Girl Scouts I work with. We’ve decided to discuss that with each other more in the near future. </p>
<p>She’s also apparently one of the roomie’s mom’s MK downline people. The friend handed my kid and I each a business card from her regular job and then laughingly apologized to the roomie’s mom that it wasn’t the friend’s MK business card. Then the roomie’s mom mentioned that her friend could help these HS Girl Sc0uts in other ways such as with health/skin/beauty stuff, etc. The roomie’s mom also mentioned that again before we parted after a 90 minute meeting. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, the friend gave my D her business card for my D to ‘keep in touch’ because the friend’s cousin moved to Japan to attend a Japanese university for 4 years immersion-style and is now currently working in DC doing something similar to what my kid may want to do down the road that’s related to Japanese corporations. The friend really liked my D and wants to connect her to the cousin in DC. </p>
<p>Let the college connections, intern opportunities, and career networking begin! It was actually a good way for me to remind D that you never know when you might make what could turn out to be an important networking connection.</p>