Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

DD gets home for a week in about 24 hours, and I’m very excited, even though I just saw her 2 weeks ago. We’re planning a mani-pedi day, thrift-shopping, and DD will make sure we go into the “Christmas room” to look for new decorations at thrift prices. Then we’ll get things ready for Thanksgiving dinner with family. Mostly we’ll just be together-and that’s the best part of all.

Leaving in a few hours to SF to meet son. Then off to Maui for the Thanksgiving week. Looking forward to seeing him again.

Great to see some updates! We’ve been through so much together.

I’m leaving tomorrow for Boston to spend a week with palmkid. I haven’t been back since I dropped her off last year. I can’t want to see her apartment, friends, research lab, favorite hang-out spots, and Northeastern’s new science and engineering building. We will spend the weekend after Thanksgiving in NYC, a place I’ve never been.

Next semester is her first co-op. She will be at Lincoln Laboratories, and she is SOOOO excited. It’s funny to hear her talk about how much easier her life will be with JUST a full-time job to occupy her time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all & good luck to our kids as they finish up their fall semester of Sophomore year!

@palm715 Enjoy your time with palmkid! I hear Lincoln is a fabulous place to work. And she’s right. Every NEU student I know says working is so much easier than balancing life at school. She’ll love it, I’m sure. Enjoy your time stateside and let us know how it all goes. Oh, and while in NYC, check out the Broadway Lotteries.My little one has won 7 times this past summer. You get to see a show for something like $45 a ticket if you win (2 tix max). Let me know if you want info.

I love reading everyone’s updates.

My babies are home! First time I’m seeing them since early August. D already has a job lined up for next summer, so S is feeling behind the 8 ball. Both kids came home with TONS of homework. At least I get to feed them while they are here. Before college my kids were up and out by 9 when they slept late, college trained them to sleep until 1 and have in depth meaningful conversations at 2am. Oy

@palm715, S13 has a fellowship this first year post college and is enjoying the “freedom” that a 9-6 job provides. He told me, “I am a different person when I get 8 hours of sleep every night.” I hope palmkid feels the same.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

A late Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you had all your favorite Thanksgiving food and lots of fun with family and friends.

Yet another big adjustment coming here. DS met the conditions we set for earning the privilege of having a car at school, (saved his summer earnings, good grades, etc) and has purchased a car so he will be driving himself back to campus this time. I have to admit that while it saves me much time I will miss having all that “catch up” time in the car and the excuse to text him to plan pickup. He will still need some help getting his dorm stuff home (dorm fridge, etc) so we will at least go to campus then but our visits will be fewer now. One more step into being on his own.

I totally get it @Cheeringsection . This is the first time we won’t be taking DS16 back . His roommate is. I always looked forward to the trip back.

@Cheeringsection I missed that too when DS began driving himself back and forth, but now we use it as an excuse to go visit him on campus. And, we still help bring my SUV for move in/move out, so we get to be a part of that experience with him. Also, he now drives his friends to/from campus so he makes a little gas money and I feel better that he’s not traveling alone. I do miss the conversion time when we’d take him, tho! He just left this afternoon to go beck to school, and we miss him already…

Update on our S16: He was a NMSF with low English grades that wrecked his GPA but still got plenty of scholarship money. Unfortunately, he crashed and burned freshman year. Testing during the summer revealed a disability in written communication that explained his difficulties. He finally landed a job, and is now planning on taking a couple of classes at the local community college spring semester. He’s now entitled to accommodations when needed. With his AP classes and the few classes he passed freshman year he should be classified as a sophomore going in. He’s now planning to return full-time in the fall (he could stay part time of he chooses to work more hours, but that may not be an option). He’s at the point where he sees a four year college as a possibility again.

Q glad to hear he is seeing options for his future again! Best wishes for a successful return to the College path!

@mstomper

Will he return to Temple?

Yay for kids getting through tough times!

What a great update! Glad your son is doing so well!

@Midwest67, Temple will be too expensive without the scholarship. He says that if he goes to a four year school it will be Towson or UMBC. He’s spent a fair amount of time in Baltimore and liked it a lot.

@mstomper towson and umbc are great schools! Best wishes to your son in all of this!

@mstomper Great news for your son. I’m a Towson alum. I’m sure it’s changed a good bit in the 32 years since I’ve graduated, but I had an awesome college experience .

Thanks for the good thoughts, everyone. I’m sure that once the Associate’s degree is in hand he’ll have a good handle on what’s next. That may happen fairly quickly if he goes full time next year, but It’s not certain he’ll do that yet.

Thanks for the update on your son @mstomper. It’s great to hear that things are looking up and he has a plan to move forward.

Great news @mstomper! Glad to hear that your DS is finding his path.

Woo hoo Clemson!!!