<p>Hi all! I just wanted to report that my D finished her last full day of summer PE/Driver’s Ed. today. She is excited and in her words is thrilled to be “finished with PE forever!!”. She got her learner’s permit in June at age 15 1/2 and has already completed about half of the required 45 hours of driving. She will still have to complete 2 weeks of behind the wheel with an instructor before she can be licensed at 16 years 3 months. She has many friends who also have their learner’s permit and they are universally envied by those younger in the class! She is also very excited for field hockey to begin on Monday. School here does not begin until after labor day, and we also have the early start time of 7:25. Bus picks up at 6:40. No driving to school until junior year.</p>
<p>Our field hockey pre-season starts Monday too. It has been so hot and humid this summer, I hope the coach makes sure they break for water a lot. School starts the 26th, and the bus usually comes around 6:40 AM.</p>
<p>It has been a record breaking summer here as well mamabear. Quite a few days of 100+ degree heat. We are hoping for cooler weather next week, but the humidity has been unbearable most days. D is pretty good in the heat though. She was a gymnast for seven years and practiced in an unairconditioned building throughout the summers, so it doesn’t seem to bother her as much as others. Nevertheless, all the girls bring hefty supplies of water during these dog days of summer. The physical conditioning can be quite intense in field hockey. Good luck to your D in the coming season!</p>
<p>I think the rest of the country is getting a taste of Texas this summer. D’10 is headed to college in DC tomorrow and is excited that it will only be in the 90’s there!</p>
<p>megpmom…what Uni? I grew up in North Florida but for some reason DC just kills me in the heat…I think it is the way the heat radiates from the buildings and then the government buildings are all so over airconditioned inside…whiplash 20 or more degrees in seconds…very stressful on the body.</p>
<p>Tell D '10 to bring warm sweaters for classrooms if she is at GW…I sometimes teach there and I freeze!</p>
<p>finearts - I agree - and am also in the DC area and it is impossible to know how to dress each day, if you dress for the heat you freeze and if you dress for the AC you roast in route. Not to mention our humidity added in. This summer though has been a roaster - with some crazy storms recently!</p>
<p>D2 opted not to try out for a fall sport which is fine with me - my 8th grader may or may not go out for the HS freshman football team but with the heat/humidity we’ve been having I’m not sure whether to encourage him or not!</p>
<p>Just over 3 weeks until school is back in session!</p>
<p>Hi, all, missed this board for a while, hope everyone is having good summer vacation.</p>
<p>Our school starts registration for next term tomorrow, school starts next week. </p>
<p>D registered for “Color Guard” for no apparent reason - to serve as regular workout, or to have fun, or to have social activities, or to add additional experience at her resume for her college app, or all of them above? I don’t know. I only know she will commit a lot of time - every Friday afternoon to evening and she practiced in the past weeks, she already got suntanned.</p>
<p>With AP World History and AP Stats, she is going to be very busy soon. </p>
<p>RobD: same as your D, D was excited when she got her permit few couple of month ago, she just had first driving lesson with me, she was very nervous, but I think she did better than my son did at first time.</p>
<p>Hi all!</p>
<p>My kid is driving me crazy with summer reading/reports! 3 books, 2 reports & 1 test when he starts up in September – Do you think he finished a book yet? NOPE.</p>
<p>I looked at the reading for next summer & it is even worse (more books, poems & journals).</p>
<p>I used to think the summer projects were a good way to keep their minds sharp – Now I just dread it all & wish for the old fashioned summers I had as a kid.</p>
<p>RobD – That is an early day for your daughter! Our household couldn’t handle it.</p>
<p>Our school day this year is starting 15 minutes earlier and every one of my kids is dreading it.</p>
<p>Just back from taking older D to college (American U). Now S’13 is happily an “only” child. He already raided her room and is claiming her bed. The highlight, I’m sure, will come on Thursday, our dinner-out night, when he can pick the restaurant without fighting with his sister. I was the younger sib and I remember how much fun it was to have parents all to myself for a couple years!</p>
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<p>Not all kids feel that way. Our D1 is off to college next week. D2 is dreading her big sister’s departure, in part because she fears it means <em>too much</em> attention from Mom & Dad. At a deeper level, I suspect it’s because from earliest childhood, D2 has followed in D1’s wake and defined her world by progress toward benchmarks established by D1. It’s a little disorienting to D2 to be losing that lodestar and role model. D1, on the other hand, started out in life as an only child and still remembers that time fondly. She absolutely shines when D2 is away for any length of time (e.g., this summer when D2 was away at language camp for a month). D1 shifts gears easily into being our “only” again. For D2 it’s an awkward and sometimes uncomfortable experience.</p>
<p>My D2('13) was very much looking forward to D1 leaving (T-4 Days) until it hit her that it was actually going to happen and now I think wants to stop the clock. She still has S, so she won’t be an only, but she’s really going to miss her big sister and roommate even though all along she thought she really wanted her own space. Hopefully she’ll adjust - when we had a trial run with D1 away for 2 weeks D2 was not comfortable sleeping alone in the room even though she’s had no problem with it before but now I think that she knows it will soon be much more permanent she isn’t as thrilled.</p>
<p>D’13 also goes to a HS that a few years ago did away with work over any breaks, so she relishes not having any work over the summer break (and relishes harassing younger brother who does for his MS) - I will admit though I love their philosphy on it and am mainly looking forward to it for the fall breaks when you just want them to be able to have time to actually take a break. My older D (the one almost off to college) went to a different HS and it always felt like her breaks were just enlongated homework times!</p>
<p>Congrats Megpmom on launching your older one!</p>
<p>D2 doesn’t seem to be too bothered that D1 has left. They’ve texted & FB chatted so I don’t know how disconnected she feels. Of course, she’s thrilled that the bathroom now only has 3 bottles of product as opposed to 17 (I am not exaggerating at all; there were 14 different bottled of product in the shower from D1, some completely empty) and that the bathroom sink doesn’t have a flat iron, 23 bobby pins, and 5 ponytail holders strewn about. Have I ever mentioned that D2 is a tiny bit OCD ;)?</p>
<p>D2’s classes seem to be going well. She’s happy with all teachers so far and she can’t quite figure out why everyone is freaking out about AP Euro. Homework is manageable so far; check back next month.</p>
<p>DH plans on taking her out for her first driving lesson this weekend. Prayers are welcome!</p>
<p>Hello, Hello!</p>
<p>So many familiar names in this thread–RobD, YDS, parent56, Shillyshally to name a few after giving the thread a quick once-over.</p>
<p>S2 (who is a quite different student than the S I’m sending off to college next week) is looking forward to having a better sophomore year (grade-wise) than freshman year. He has had a bit of Algebra tutoring this summer in anticipation of Algebra II, and even read 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Also, he will not have the big distraction of living (and looking up to) a brother stricken with senioritis. We’re hoping for the best :)</p>
<p>Welcome Ely! I think my D2 is also looking forward to no longer defining herself by her older sister - they did go to different HS but still, I can’t say I blame her, I was a bit intimidated by D1’s work habits and drive and her senior schedule was impossible but she made it look easy :)</p>
<p>Now D2 is much more similar to how I was as a student so motivated only when it serves her, which is not all her classes 
I’m hoping she can just find her groove and be confident in who she is!</p>
<p>Hey, it’s old home week! </p>
<p>ELY, I haven’t posted much on here because I still need to launch ds1, but thought I’d join in on the discussion of being the younger child. Ds2 idolizes his big brother. He’d never tell him that, but he constantly compares himself to him, and he’s already said he feels pressure to be as successful as ds1 in the college acceptance arena. That is totally self-imposed. They are so different (academically/EC-wise) that I don’t see their college searches being at all the same and think that ds2 will apply to very different kinds of colleges, with only the state schools as an overlap.</p>
<p>I asked him last night if he’ll miss his brother, and he gave an enthusiastic, “Yeah!” They truly love each other. It’s a mutual admiration society. </p>
<p>Ds2 also hopes to have a better school year academically. He did fine freshman year but definitely not to his ability. He admitted that when the class doesn’t challenge him he just checks out mentally, to the point he’ll even forget about a test because he’s used to giving so little effort in that particular period. I told him he definitely needs to work on that.</p>
<p>Hey all!</p>
<p>New on here as I just found out about this forum today while doing a web search.</p>
<p>Not sure about all the abbreviations on here, but I have a daughter (oldest child) who will be a high school sophomore this year. She is not sure on a major yet, but probably something in music/theater and/or business. </p>
<p>Besides being a parent, I am also a college access advisor for a non-profit organization and before that spent 25 years as a college administrator (NOTE: this is in no way an advertisement as my company does not charge students for our college access services!)</p>
<p>Looking forward to the discussions on here.</p>
<p>R.J.</p>
<p>Welcome Osprey! My D2 (2nd daughter, my D1 is heading to college in 2 days) is my class of 2013er and also has no clue on major - some ideas, but no “that’s it” which I think is just fine at this age! Her older sister (the one heading off) was a rare one in knowing what she wanted to do from middle school. Now my younger one, my S (son), heading into 8th, also has no true idea on what he’ll want to do so I think that’s more the norm than not!</p>
<p>Glad you found us!</p>
<p>My D has an excellent singing voice and is in a top performing choir in our area, so music is a strong possibility. Although making a living at it is suspect, she is looking at business as a “fallback” career. </p>
<p>I have told her she will probably change her mind many times, and that is OK. She is also into Japanese culture (she likes Anime/Manga) so looking at schools that will allow her to study in Japan is also a consideration.</p>
<p>It will be a wild rollercoaster ride, but it will be FUN!</p>
<p>R.J.</p>
<p>Welcome Osprey and all the other newcomers:)
DS is still finalizing his schedule. Something wrong with his TV class. I have stepped back and am allowing him to handle this . Am watching though
He has grown tremendously in the last few months.
We hardly ever fight anymore!</p>
<p>DS finished drivers ed today and starts school on Monday. He likes his schedule and has found friends in all of his classes except Algebra 2. I suspect that is because he is taking the “regular” level and not PreAp. Oh well, it’s a chance to make new friends and he doesn’t ever seem to have a problem in that area. Best wishes for all the kids who are starting their sophomore year!!</p>