<p>Thank you for saying that ordinarylives…you would never believe that reading this forum.</p>
<p>Apps have become the accepted way to show that you are challenging yourself and can handle college level work. I don’t think this is the only way to distinguish yourself as a student. If a kid was genuinely interested in learning about a subject not taught at their school and figured out a way to get that knowledge, I think that’s just as impressive as getting a 5 on the test. D’11 ended up with 8 APs; S’14 hasn’t taken any yet. </p>
<p>His geometry teacher just wrote a progress report that he’s really grown as a student. He comes in prepared and asks good questions. As a measure of how he’s doing, I think that’s great.</p>
<p>AP’s not apps. I hate autocorrect</p>
<p>Classof2015 - I wholeheartedly agree with a holistic measure of growth. That’s just as important.</p>
<p>Beadymom - Thanks for the welcome! I’ve been lurking here for months! Bur I’m getting too anxious and excited. DD14 is my youngest and this is the last time I’ll be going through this as a parent. Whew what a ride! Jr prom tomorrow night, followed by an intense day of DD working on her capstone research paper. Senior year here we come!</p>
<p>Oh and about the subject of APs, I can’t relate. DD and I have been total rebels in this regard. She hasn’t taken any this year. She’ll take APBio, APLatin next year peppered with Calc, Personal Finance, Psych, and Adv oil painting. I’m praying this will be good enough for adcoms.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice, ordinarylives…I think we learned about getting off the treadmill a bit late – but she’s adjusting her course accordingly! </p>
<p>There’s so much to learn with these firstborns, and it’s easy to get sucked into all the hype. She’s a hardworking, well-balanced kid, who is feeling like she may have bit off a bit more than she could chew. (Not that DH and I didn’t warn her!!!) </p>
<p>Thanks Creekland and 4beardolls for the info about college credit and placement with regards to the AP tests. Sometimes I feel I should’ve been on this forum way before I started … either that, or take a “So Your Kid Wants to Go to College” class! 
Perhaps I should check for the class of 2017 for DS starting freshman year in the fall.</p>
<p>Welcome msquaredsmomma!</p>
<p>I’m here for a virtual drink. Not a good day and I could just cry. S14’s sports meet went badly and it was a pivotal one. Apparently it didn’t help him having me there. I would have left in a nanosecond if he had waved me off. He said he didn’t want to do it in front of everyone. I said I wouldn’t have cared. Now I feel horrible for being there. </p>
<p>And then there is my 14 year old who won’t even talk to me. Although I was a little late picking her up today and she was miffed, I did bring her a doughnut. Of course she scarfed it down but wouldn’t even talk to me and got mad when I said she would have to take the puppy out when we got home because I was leaving for the meet. THen she got mad when I didn’t read her mind to know there was a drama club thing at school and I was still at the meet. I had no idea because, like I said, she didn’t talk to me. She was always such a sweetie but now I just don’t even know how to coexist with her. </p>
<p>I feel like such a bad mom. My husband’s asleep so I can’t talk to him tonight 
The only one that still loves me is the puppy and he’s not potty trained. Hope everyone else had a better day. (At least the APs are over. )</p>
<p>I’m sorry for the rough day you’ve had, MrsPepper! Let me pour you a nice glass of wine! Or do you want something stronger?? </p>
<p>I’m exhausted! It’s been a long day. Good night, everyone!</p>
<p>aw, Mrspepper, sounds like a rough day. Tomorrow will be better!</p>
<p>Mrspepper…we have all been there! hopefully after a good night’s sleep, everyone will be in a better mood tomorrow. And by virtue of you posting here, I am absolutely certain you are not a “bad mom”!</p>
<p>Mrspepper: We all have days like yours. It’s going to get better. Hug the puppy. He always loves you.</p>
<p>As for the chatter about APs, my son would be lost without them. They offer the small classes he likes with lots of personal attention. While he’s had to bust his butt and go without sleep sometimes, he would not trade those classes away. Not only has he learned the material, but he’s grown as a person. Hopefully that will translate into some college credit. His older brother started college with 65 credits. Again, he would have been lost without AP.</p>
<p>So glad for the weekend, but we still remain on the treadmill in our home. Son '14 has projects to do for classes and his regional track meet is coming up. He’s also running for NHS vice president. Older son just learned he has a hernia and needs surgery. </p>
<p>For us teachers, summer cannot come soon enough.</p>
<p><<<hugs>>> from here Mrs. Pepper. We do, honestly, all have days like that. The good thing is we tend to get a lot smarter once our kids have kids… I know my folks did. I’m looking forward to that time with my oldest and youngest. (Middle has been the dream child and would have been for any parent. If he’d been my “only” I’d have been wondering what in the world was wrong with all of you. Fortunately, I have two “normal” children to keep me grounded and let me know it certainly isn’t “me” that helped/hurt my kids.)</hugs></p>
<p>I hope things are better this morning!</p>
<p>Good Morning! Just my dog and I are up. Coffee is brewed. First load of laundry is going. We brought DS11 home from college. He gave DS14 his old laptop as he upgraded to accommodate CAD software for engineering design. Younger brother is in heaven with this hand me down. I was very surprised yesterday to see YB wearing one of OB’s college T shirts to school…another hand me down. They are becoming closer as they mature. It makes my heart swell.</p>
<p>mrspepper – so sorry – it was not because you were at the event that it didn’t go well. We feel so bad for our kids when they suffer a major disappointment. re: girls and moms – my own D has been an absolute pill since she was 13. The low point was when she told me last year (as a freshman at a very pricey school) “I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”</p>
<p>And I said, “but it’s ok if I pay tuition, right?” Funny how that works.</p>
<p>I don’t think I was that mean to my mom (she says I wasn’t), but my mom is the nicest person in the world.</p>
<p>On another note, prom went off last night without a hitch – beautiful weather, S’14 looked very handsome. Only one little mishap – he gave his date her corsage, and the girl’s mom looked at me, not smiling. “We screwed up.” The florist had given her a corsage too (instead of a boutonniere). “But I know your son has a sense of humor.” So S’14 slipped the corsage on his wrist and everyone laughed.</p>
<p>mrspepper, my DD17 has those days too. I try to remind myself that they are very self-centered at this age. It’s part of natural stage of life. Hope you have a better day today!</p>
<p>mrspepper, we have all been in that horrible and isolating place before. Every parent can relate in some way, but it still hurts. I hope that after a good night’s rest everyone is feeling human and humane again. </p>
<p>Classof2015, your son has a great approach toward life’s topsy-turvy moments. I love the story!</p>
<p>Classof’15 - love the corsage story!</p>
<p>A few years ago I called my mother and apologized for ever having been a teenager! She said I wasn’t so bad. I think she’s using her selective mom memory. </p>
<p>I, too, often failed at the mind-reading game and was accordingly chastised. It’s ok, Mrspepper. They really do outgrow that nasty stage eventually. Telling you things last minute or not at all? Still there.</p>
<p>Oh, and my AP-less d’11 still graduated in the top 5% of her class, had no trouble getting into college and the college’s nursing program, and still carries a 3.8 at the end of sophomore year. I’d say she,s done just fine without them.</p>
<p>I really support schools making their most challenging classes not-officially-AP classes. To label the class “AP” the teachers need to be trained by College Board (more money for them). This came up because one of my son’s AP teachers had to take an unexpected medical leave midyear, and they had someone else qualified to teach the class, but not formally trained to teach AP, so they would have to change the designation to non-AP. Which I wouldn’t have minded, except that our school only weights AP classes and they would not budge and continue to weight this class even if it was taught with the same rigor and the kids were still expected to take the AP exam They gave the kids the option to take an official AP class online which my son decided to do but the online class was awful. So not a great situation.</p>
<p>I would rather the schools teach a challenging AP level class but not be constrained by the college board class as to exactly who may teach it and how. And the kids can still prove the quality of the class by taking the AP exam anyhow.</p>
<p>Our poor first borns, is it any wonder with the birth order about how hard charging they are and how laid back later borns are? I call my oldest the guinea pig.</p>
<p>I wish I didn’t push and nag him so much for the almighty college resume. I honestly get now that kids need time to explore passions, not feel like junior year dictates the rest of their lives. My sons best english class was not AP. My dd is taking AP US this year and her teacher was horrible and I don’t think she learned that much, nor do I think the class was prepared for the test. She hardly even had homework for that class. Her Anatomy class should have given college credit it was so rigorous, yet didn’t, etc. </p>
<p>At the end of the day I want happy, engaged kids who are well educated and intellectually curious. I think I have that. I’m trying not to get on the stress train with my d. She really likes her options and may end up choosing her safety as her first choice. </p>
<p>Most of us didn’t go to the best colleges in the country. Most people irl don’t have the stats you read all over here. It feels like my kids have a strike against them in college admissions because we did the right things for them and they had a regular, suburban happy life. </p>
<p>BTW…I love the corsage story </p>
<p>As for me - I’m on vacation and just so happened to have a mojito on the beach chair not too long ago Let’s hope I can keep this mellow spirit when I get home.</p>