Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

Congrats, @readingclaygirl!! Nice job. Keep it up.

@readingclaygirl - Wow!! Congrats! Iā€™m so excited for you!!

Thank you! @madredos @auntiek

Congrats! @readingclaygirl

Thank you @livinginLA

@readingclaygirl: Way to go, good for you.

S has been delivered safely back to school. He even let us come up and trade out some clothes he wonā€™t need until spring. We got much better hugs saying goodbye in his room than we ever have saying goodbye by the car.

So now we are home, and H told me to please not put away a single Christmas thing yet, because he canā€™t stand that added level of depression after S leaving!

Thank you @Waiting2exhale I am back at school and it just feels right.

Our forum is so quiet these days-remember last year when we were full of angst and uncertainty as we waited for acceptances? Itā€™s been two weeks since D has been back at school. Sheā€™s busy with schoolwork, including some upper level education classes as well as a brand-new one they actually asked her to join so that they could have her in the initial offering due to her drive and interest (teaching reading). Itā€™s also been busy on campus with various MLK events-they had a Freedom Rider speak on Saturday, along with preparation for the annual open house for interested junior and senior HS students. D will be part of the ā€œunveilingā€ of that event, though I am not sure what that means. Sheā€™s busy with applications for summer programs and learned today that she has made the first cut on one and has to make a video of herself teaching for the next round. So exciting!

H and I have been enjoying our time alone once more-itā€™s still a novelty to have weekends free for the first time since, oh, I think D was in kindergarten. We saw Hidden Figures yesterday and I canā€™t recommend it enough, ESPECIALLY if you have a mathy or science kid. I donā€™t mention my other kids much, but my son was running his own business, got caught up between two former employers who were suing each other, and had to put his own business on hold for almost a year. Looks like things are finally resolving and he is being courted by a much bigger, much stronger company AND the suit is about to be resolved. Weā€™re all very happy for him. My older D is now assistant manager at her restaurant and has a bit more say in her hours. Sheā€™s been enjoying her favorite winter sports with friends. H and I head down to Vegas for Valentineā€™s week-thatā€™s the anniversary of when we got engaged. Thank you, Groupon!

Hope everyone is well and happy, and congrats to YOU, @readingclaygirl !

Thanks for checking in @sseamom ! It is a bit too quiet here. I am glad that the roller coaster has ended but I miss hearing about everyoneā€™s DC.

DS currently only has one scheduled trip home and it is not until April. He will likely be home in March for at least part of his spring break but there may be basketball cheering to be done elsewhere first so he has not yet made firm plans.

If the weather holds, We may sneak in a trip to campus to see some basketball ourselves.

@Cheeringsection We just visited DS16 at CofC for a basketball game. It was so much fun. There was a 90 year old alum celebrating her birthday at the game. The love, support and excitement shown to her from the crowd was amazing.

Thank you @sseamom ! i had my first class today and it went well. And there was a male! (Students from the co-Ed sibling campus can take classes on our campus and vice versa)

No scheduled trips home as of right now. I spoke with DD a few days ago and she was busy with homework. This past weekend was nice. The first one that I have had for about a month that we had nothing to do and I didnā€™t have to work. Not sure what the next two will bring. We are going to be fostering a dog again for the first time in several years. Our older dog Lady was put down a couple of weeks ago and itā€™s too quiet around here. Our other dog Jenny is lonely.

D16 is headed back to school on Saturday. Classes start for him on Monday, and weā€™ll see him for spring break in March. Iā€™m hoping we hear from him more this semester than last now that he has a feel for college life.

Iā€™m thinking about paying him a visit in April while my wife and S19 are away for a video game tournament. We have our first college visit planned for S19 for early March as itā€™s time for him to get his feet wet in the college search.

@carolinamom2boys: ā€œThere was a 90 year old alum celebrating her birthday at the game. The love, support and excitement shown to her from the crowd was amazing.ā€

I have no idea why this has made me cry. Happy tears.

I will enjoy having DD home for another two weeks. She is happy externing at a ā€œvery coolā€ (her words) company doing exactly what she thought she liked and what turned out to be what she actually likes enough to take more classes in a future and potentially making it her future concentration. The bonus point to her externship is a sunny California weather (with occasional rains, but who is counting?). The negative is that she misses her friends. Funny observation: the most difficult part of her work experience is the eight hours work day. This came up in a numerous conversations between her and her friends who are doing UROPS in Boston that the biggest challenge for them was to get used to a full work week and how little time it leaves for anything else. Going to the gym after work becomes a chore. Asking employer for a couple of hours off for medical or other appointments is an inconvenience. Welcome to the working world kids!

S is still home for another week and 1/2, so weā€™ve enjoyed spending time with him but also seeing him keep a bit more busy with a part-time, flexible job, and his new hobby of skiing. He tried it with a HS friend for the first time a week ago, and theyā€™ve now gone 3 times! Good thing he got a winter break job to pay for it, and that his friend can lend him all the ski gear he needs to give it a try.

Our grocery bill is so much higher with him home, and the fridge is always empty, but I know weā€™ll miss that when he heads back to school. It almost feels like it used to since heā€™s been home over a month now, so Iā€™m not looking forward to his departure. He plans to come home before spring break to see D18 in her school show, then will come back about 2 weeks later for spring break. Since heā€™ll be bringing a car and doesnā€™t have class on Fridays, maybe heā€™ll stop by for a few other visits during spring semester?

Take care everyone, and stay warm!

Our S is coming home in a little over a week to see his old church youth group (including S18) do the service. Itā€™ll be interesting to see how he does in college level math. My guess is that the first couple of classes wonā€™t be difficult for him.

Anyone elseā€™s kid invited to join Phi Eta Sigma? It seems to be a honor society for first year college students and costs $70 to join. It sounds kind of weird and scammy to me but it is actually associated with the school. The person D is supposed to send the check to if she wants to join is the person who was her original advisor from last summer.

We arenā€™t clear if there is any benefit to it. I think D wants to join because getting honors type things is somewhat of a novel experience for her. This is the second honors type thing she has been invited to in the last week (the first didnā€™t cost any money though). None of her friends did as well as she did first semester so she is the only one in her crowd getting these invites. She is kind of giddy about the whole thing - ā€œIā€™ve never been the smart one beforeā€. But it does make it hard for her to decide what to do as there is noone else there to talk it over with.

http://www.phietasigma.org/benefits

^this website says the membership fee as of 2013 is only $25?

https://www.achsnatl.org/standards_alert.asp

^this website has information about judging credibility of honor societies.

My D was invided to join NSCS and Sigma Alpha Pi, but has so far not joined either. Both require a fee and Iā€™m unsure of the benefit.