@jmek15 I am so glad that there were a couple of kids with your D. I was a wreck with my kids going to China last year and they had no travel hiccups. I hope the rest of her travel goes smoother.
We still have two weeks until graduation. My daughter pulled/tore a tendon in her foot at her last recital practice. She couldn’t dance which was very sad for her. She did go on stage for the production number and danced as Chip in a chair the best she could. She also did the graduating bit with teachers. She managed her disappointment well.
Now we are hoping she can walk across the stage for graduation. Plus she has a Disney trip with her friends right afterwards.
Good grief! At least, @jmek15 , the group were given access to the Admirals Lounge. That was nice. Is she at Logan or JFK? I’ve been in the JFK one and there are worse places to spend one’s time. …Also once I missed my connection going from Madrid>Toronto>LAX, and all I was given access to in Toronto was a stretch of uncarpeted floor near a charging station. Like I said, there are worse places.
8-|
@LoveTheBard My D17 is looking up Slings and Arrows as I type this. Thanks for the recommendation. Our local summer theatre is repertory, and DH and I haven’t missed a year in 20+ years. Started taking D17 as soon as she met the minimum age requirement of 6. It has been fun to watch some of the actors transition from youthful to older roles as they have aged.
@jmek15 Thank you for all the work you did on the list!
I just returned from my niece’s graduation in Wyoming. They entered the arena in pairs, then joined with another pair to make a foursome and stopped and waved before proceeding to their seats. A classmate who took his own life earlier this year was honored by one student entering alone, carrying a giant photo of him. So when she joined up with the other pair, instead of a foursome, there was a threesome and his photo. I thought that was a very moving way to pay tribute to him.
D17 has 2 days left. Still seems to have several projects due, but says she expects to earn straight A’s, so I guess she’s on track to get them all done. At her HS, any summa cum laude student can volunteer to give a speech and then the class votes, and the 3 who get the most votes give the speeches. She did not volunteer. I would be shocked if she had!
Yay! D15 is in Rome, finally in the apartment she’ll share with 5 other girls for the next 7 weeks. She said it’s big, with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen/ living space, balcony and a washer/dryer. Secure building (I had to ask). She and her two new besties ended up leaving JFK on an 11:55 flight to Dusseldorf, and made the earlier connection to Rome because it was an hour late going out. Apparently they got miserable seats for the long flight, but were put in business class for the short connector. All told it took just over 24 hours from when she checked in at Logan - it took them longer than it did the group that flew from CA! In any case, all is well.
@twoforone99, as a dance mom my heart goes out to your D. I hope she heals quickly. Does she plan to dance at UVA?
mpominthemiddle: Your daughter is the one going to attend the university for four years. I am not sure that I understand why you are so opposed. Sometimes we think we know what is best for our kids, but her daily experiences, comfort, friendships, and school "vibe’ are much much more important than restaurants and museums surrounding a school. Trust me—there are kids just like her at UD; they are cultured and interesting and full of school pride and spirit. Philadelphia is only a half hour away by train and there are other cities nearby if she doesn’t have enough to do on campus—which I highly doubt (check out the event schedules) I am not sure where your anxiety is coming from…I hope that you find peace and are able to support your daughter’s decisions. Kids at UD THRIVE- just like all of the other places that you mentioned. There are so many private school/honors students there, just like her. It’s going to be okay–but more than that—it is going to be great–she is carving out her future!
Also—many people I know have raved about the ease in communicating with UD. Perhaps you just had a bad phone call or it was a busy day. Your daughter is closely watching–are you being positive and persistent? Try not to paint with such broad strokes. If you expect positive interactions—you might be pleasantly surprised!
Wow, it has been forever since I logged in which explains the giant red 2208 notifications in the corner of my screen! I’ll do my best to catch up since I feel bad about missing out on all the good news and decision making. Belated congratulations to everyone for finishing up the college process! After all the time we spent on it, it is hard to believe that it is over.
For the first time in several months, my house was quiet in the morning! April was a whirlwind month of visits that finally culminated in a decision at 10 PM on May 1st. D chose Columbia (which was quite a shock to me!), but she has never regretted her decision. May was full of final exams and AP exams and then the seemingly endless string of senior activities. But now it is all over!
D graduated last night at a beautiful ceremony in a local park. The ceremony was blissfully short even though they had to get through 300 names. The weeks before graduation had been so chock full of activities from senior barbecue to prom and senior service week to the baccalaureate brunch that it is hard to comprehend that it is all over. I guess that overwhelming sense of nostalgia is what led me to log back in and check up on my online friends.
I’m sure this sense of quiet won’t last because there is so much to do before college starts in the fall, but right now, I am just trying to enjoy the moment.
Love the comprehensive list! Thank you @jmek15. Down to the last few weeks of school here. Graduation is not until mid June. Prom isn’t until the 9th. Winding down slowly.
@NerdMom88 Sorry to hear about your job. We’ve been there ourselves and it sucks. If the job search goes on for awhile, make sure you notify the Financial Aid department. You can appeal the financial aid award.
Chiming in about length of ceremony. Ours is supposed to be much faster this year b/c they are not announcing honors/distinguished cum laude etc for any of the graduates except the top 2%. Some are glad, some are upset. Will be interesting to see how long it will be be.
DS and DD sound asleep. No senior finals, so no school today for seniors. Tomorrow and Thursday they practice walking in the afternoon. They are already practicing summer break.
DS graduated last Thursday, and today is the Top 10 luncheon. A nice touch is that each student gets to invite one teacher to the luncheon. He invited his AICE American History and AICE Global Perspective teacher, who was also his CC/Track coach.
** QOTD:** With apologies, this is probably a repeat. Are any of you buying a “large” monitor for DC’s dorm desk? S will have a laptop/tablet for classroom and library use. But I’ve seen it suggested that a 24-27 inch monitor is easy on the eyes for the hours spent studying back in the dorm. They can be purchased for $150-$225 and I’ll probably just do it. Any thoughts or suggestions?
QOTD: DS has a 21" monitor that he uses at home with his laptop. He finds it very useful for programming projects. He’ll take that, though I’ve heard they don’t always travel well outside their original packaging.
27" wow! I have two 24" screens side-by-side for work.
S has a large monitor at his desk, along with a mouse and keyboard, but he doesn’t use them. When we first got them for him, he tried them, quickly stopped using the keyboard and mouse, but did use the monitor for a while.
The problem was that video cable couldn’t handle the daily plugging and unplugging; I anticipate it might be more than daily in a college dorm situation. A docking station could address that issue, but they are expensive.
I have a similar setup at my desk at home, which I find much better ergonomically, in addition to having greatly increased usability due to having two monitors, but my laptop very rarely leaves my desk.
IMO, laptops are ergonomic disasters. S is always hunched over when working on his, which I think is a big contributor to his poor posture. I find it much more comfortable to have my primary monitor at eye level, and my keyboard close to lap height (I use an under desk keyboard tray, which also gives me more desk space), so the difference in height is around 20", not about 1" like on a laptop.
My son17 did not take any, but son19 is scheduled for 2 tests this Saturday, math and chemistry.
He did the practice tests that came in the official guide books, and scored very well in Math, but his Chemistry score was horrid. Like way bad. He is in honors Chemistry as a sophomore and has a straight A and he says he likes the class and understands everything. He said there was a bunch of stuff on the practice test that they never learned.
Is the Chem test better suited for kids that have taken AP Chem. vs honors or reg Chem? I don’t think he was planning to take AP Chem, I think he’s taking Physics next year. So maybe he’s not best suited for this test and should take something else?
@RightCoaster My advice is to focus on Math and forget Chemistry for now if he thinks he will do poorly. Honestly, with SAT II tests, anything less than high 700s will reflect poorly. Many kids get perfect scores, especially in math and sciences.
He can try the physics SAT test next year or he can study over the summer and take the Chem test in August.
