<p>Happyson=Happymom 
Glad your son is enjoying his U.S. History course. My 2014 son got news today that our Rotary district has approved his exchange application. As he was blowing out his birthday candles I was just saying that he probably wouldn’t be celebrating his birthday with us next year. Now we know for sure. He won’t know his destination until spring but he will definitely be studying abroad next year. Next year will be an exciting year for him.</p>
<p>Wow, appollo, that’s exciting! Congrats to your S.</p>
<p>Very exciting news Apollo! Big congratulations to your son! It will be an exciting year. I look forward to hearing all about it! Please keep us up to date on the prep as well. By the time he goes to college you and he will be pro’s! :D</p>
<p>Good news on the APUSH Happymom! That’s awesome to hear! :)</p>
<p>**For those of you who are not keeping track…</p>
<p>[size=5]888 days until the Class of 2014 SS Indecision sets sail on April 1, 2014</p>
<p>798 days until the Class of 2014 Common Application RD deadline on January 1, 2014</p>
<p>737 days until the Class of 2014 Common Application ED deadline on November 1, 2013</p>
<p>Just a warning from those of us with kids in the HS Class of 2011 - it goes faster than you will beleive!</p>
<p>In summary :eek: :eek: :eek: [/size]**</p>
<p>Thanks Captain (aka AvonHSDad) … you can’t see the big grin on my face but it looks something like this :D</p>
<p>You totally ROCK and I’m so glad you are on this voyage yet again with me!! :)</p>
<p>It does go by fast – I wish I had a remote control that would speed up the yucky parts of the college application process, and go into slo-mo for the good parts (getting in, graduation, prom).</p>
<p>Eek, AvonHSDad, let’s enjoy sophomore year with minimal college app incursions while we can!</p>
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<p>After visiting the rather chaotic and totally stressed out HS Class of 2012 thread, I agree its time to relax and enjoy the ride! 
In looking at that thread, I think there is much more panic and anguish than our 2011 thread last year. :D</p>
<p>Love your post # 904, Avon.</p>
<p>S is talking about taking the SAT in December. THIS December. I do not know of any benefit to this as we won’t even have his PSAT results then. Am not sure if I should just let him take it for practice or if it would be a bad idea taking it too many times. Eek is right!</p>
<p>My '14 is my youngest, and the only one left at home. She’s gone this week, so I’ve got a taste of the empty nest. (I need more hobbies.) I might add a:</p>
<p>1100 days (give or take) to the empty nest! Yikes!</p>
<p>o’lives, S3, aka S2014, aka Bluejrjr, is also my youngest. Glad to know I have a kindred spirit who will also be empty nesting after this in a few years! Like you I will need hobbies to fill my time as the kids are leaving.</p>
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<p>Our D '14 is our youngest as well. I think we will be ready for the empty nest. DW is already talking about downsizing the house although we love our neighborhood and our neighbors. Hopefully the housing market will come back some by then if we do decide to downsize. The next three years should be an interesting journey!</p>
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<p>I would let him take it for practice. With most schools using super scoring, there should be no real downside. Even without superscoring, it shows an interest early in the game and the scores should improve with each subsequent testing.</p>
<p>We hope to be downsizing as well Avondad. Bluedad ‘graduates’ the same year S3, ie he can retire from the first career and look for something with private industry. The key word being look. If private industry doesn’t look good in 2014 then he’ll sit tight. For the first time in…well a long time we won’t be tied to our current area for housing. It’s a very odd feeling. We’ll have to consider state residency for college tuition, but we’ll deal with that then. We hope to stay in the state, just not here.</p>
<p>So, empty nesting, changing jobs, and downsizing…Yes, it will be interesting. Glad I’ll have y’all!! :)</p>
<p>We may downsize too, but only because after 2014 son leaves on his adventure next year we will be down to three kids at home with three out of the nest. '-)</p>
<p>My '14 is also my last. I don’t come to this thread often. My youngest is definitely the least academically inclined. That’s really okay with me (because it’s my third kid and I’m old and all worn down) *as long as *her expectations for college are realistic. Son went to a good private LAC because his stats were good enough for him to get lots of merit aid. Older D is at a great private OOS school in a fun city because her stats were good enough for her to get lots of merit aid.</p>
<p>I guess because she took the PSAT, the college mail is starting to come for her…some of the schools are looking cool to her. But at the rate she is going, she won’t get lots of merit aid and we can’t and won’t pay full price for a private school. Without being preachy (which she just tunes out) I have to let her know that the private schools she’s thinking about will not be an option given her grades and work ethic.</p>
<p>Of course, right now she wants to be a rock star, so why do grades matter?</p>
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<p>LOL! D’14 is not in school this week. She is on a cruise with a friend because a member of their party cancelled. (Who the heck pays for a cruise and decides not to go?!) Never EVER would have even considered letting D’11 miss a week of school, but now . . . well, like you said worn down. In the grand scheme of things, what’s a week of high school? She’ll catch up.</p>
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<p>Last year, younger D (my '14) went on a 5 day trip for a school EC - they got home from the airport at about 1:30 pm on a school day. Of 36 students, only ONE girl’s mom made her go to school for the rest of the day. What impressed me to no end was that the girl is also *her *third. I would have been like that with my first…possibly with my second…but with the last one, I didn’t even consider making her go to school.</p>
<p>Thanks, AvonDad. I will let him take the SAT if he still wants to. I think it’s peer pressure at his school, heck some kids there (not mine!) have been prepping for the PSAT since freshman year.</p>
<p>He is my youngest (of 2). I was actually more easygoing with my oldest as she always got done what she needed to and if I let her miss a day I knew that she would make sure she had everything in place to not let a grade drop. She is like that. Also, she was always “under the radar” with the adults in the school and truthfully could have pulled about anything and not have gotten caught. S is an attention magnet and always gets caught.</p>
<p>MP - Your story reminds me of a day when D was a sophomore in HS and a weekend dance competition ran late. When I signed her in late to school the next day there was a whole list of dance kids on the late list. On mom wrote something like “sick” and the rest of us just put down “dance competition”.</p>
<p>When will the kids see their PSAT scores? Not before December?</p>