<p>I kinda like it here (obviously an understatement) . I find everybody a hoot and a holler.Thicken up your skin just a little and everything will be just "fine as kind" (see, I'm practicing from my "Phrases of Rural Maine" book as D is looking at Bowdoin and Colby. A-yuh, y'all.)</p>
<p>As to kids who come up here from the regular cafe' intent on instigating trouble (trolls), I do report them to the mods ...and then I resort to self-help remedies until they get here. Sorry. Can't resist.</p>
<p>All in all, I think we self-police fairly well. There are posters I don't respond to and they appear to have made the same choice. Not out of any ill-will that I can tell. I just put it down to different "raising".</p>
<p>I put just a little too much identifying detail into some early posts... so I have had to decline to post the final school for my D, out of respect for her privacy. Alas, it all leads up to a "decline to state!"</p>
<p>I too have self edited when comment does not really add anything. </p>
<p>The elite schools arguments are easily the hottest-- way above religion & politics IMO.</p>
<p>as for embarrassment:</p>
<p>
[quote]
I can generally embarrass my child just by getting out of bed in the morning.
<p>no, no, curmudge. The proper phrase is "wicked fine."
-Advanced Phrases of Rural Maine (you might as well start out at the AP level).<br>
btw, Bowdoin is wicked cosmopolitan, not rural and even Colby is not rural by Maine standards: ie, you do not have to take the "airline" (aka two-lane highway) to get there.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, CC -even in the other forums- has to be one of the best-behaved and self-disciplined discussion boards. A quick trip to competing boards will make everyone feel better about the occasional faux-pas. One issue is that discussion boards do not allow to convey human emotions, except for the little emoticons. When I read some of my old posts, I find out that I did not express myself as I wanted, and with unfortunate results. What was supposed to be a wink may turn out to be seen as an insensitive or rude comment. </p>
<p>FWIW, I think that most students have developed a thicker skin on the receiving end, and alas learned to skate around the rules of etiquette with great pleasure.</p>
<p>xiggi - [robotvoice] you...have...iendtified...a...serious...shortcoming...of...this...forum... ie ... shortage .... of..... smilies ..... please ..... start .... a .....movement .... to ... bring.... more ..... smilies..... to .... this.... forum... [/robotvoice]</p>
<p>We don't even have a LOL smilie!!!?!? Whats up with that?? I am accustomed to having many more vehicles (smilies) for self expression, such as :Iagree: :confused: :roflmao: :skep: :leaving: :cool: :etc: <= j/k :joker:</p>
In our "real" lives, it's considered rude to brag about our kids, especially academically (I notice that that's not true when talking about sports achievements). But here in the parents forum, it's OK. Where else can we turn when we our pride bursts over and we want to shout out about some achievement! So of course some of our comments are self-serving; that's what's so great about this forum.</p>
<p>Seems like most CC messages fall into one of the following categories:</p>
<p>[ol]
[<em>] Asking for information or help with perceived problems. The "what should I do?" question falls into this category as well.
[</em>] Giving information, either unsolicited or in response to (1) above. Posting external links usually falls in this category as well.
[li] Bragging about our kids. Sometimes these posts are disguised as type (1) or type (2) above, as in, "My kid just got into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford. What should we do?"[/li][/ol]</p>
<p>So the corresponding "rules" should be:</p>
<p>[ol]
[<em>] Never flame someone for a question, no matter how dumb it seems to you. We all started this process at some time.
[</em>] Give truthful and interesting information and answers to questions.
[li] Go ahead and brag.... We're all wanting to do it! And never flame someone for bragging, no matter how obviously they do it.[/li][/ol]</p>
<p>SBmom , I think I just realized that it's not "fine as kind", it's "finest kind". Or is it? Where's a cranberry bog expert when I need one, jeez. Wicked fine? As in "A'yuh. That's just wicked fine hawd cider , I can't even feel that lawbstah crawling up my shorts", that kind of "wicked fine"? I need a new Maine to Texas dictionary.</p>
<p>I am still a newbie and feel guilty because I have very little to add to most discussions. As Fredo said
[quote]
I am in awe of the civility (nearly all the time) and support and generosity of the posters on this board.
[/quote]
. I am also in awe of how knowledgeable and well spoken/written the parents are on this board. To be honest Im actually rather intimidated (my own insecurities not because of anything said by a poster). I think the current rules (or lack of) allow for frank discussion, which has served us well.</p>
<p>Yes, Ohio Mom, I do find the abbreviations confusing and would love to have an abbreviation translation thread.</p>
<p>You all do make me laugh! dmd77's guidelines are good ones to follow for emails, too - though I'm not so sure some of mine could make the "front page" of the newspaper cut. </p>
<p>Smileys are very handy, I just have trouble remember them all! :D</p>
<p>I do have to come clean and apologize for some of my "Gee, this is such a great thread!" posts - but for some reason I'm unable to subscribe to threads and I really don't want to lose track of some - thus my oft times "Me, too!" posts. :o</p>
<p>Blumini,
Not to highjack this thread, but I have been trying to find out if we can subscribe to a thread without posting. I have ask this very question in the community and forum issues recently; unfortunately I have not received a response. Anyone know if it is possible to subscribe to a thread without posting within the thread?</p>
<p>
[quote]
The elite schools arguments are easily the hottest-- way above religion & politics IMO.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's interesting to see what really "ticks off" the discussion on different boards. </p>
<p>I'm on a board for those dealing with certain health issues, and all anyone has to do there is mention cottage cheese and flax seed oil to send all the veteran posters running for the heat shields and flameproof underwear.</p>
<p>My Russian friend just sent her 16 year old son to a year abroad in Japan. He's been embraced by his host, a musical Japanese family. He plays the violin. He's in heaven.</p>
<p>I sent my S to Africa and he lived with a Tanzanian farmer whose family lived in town. The farmer made my S dinner every night and washed and ironed his clothes.</p>
<p>When my S spent every dime and then missed his flight and all of his connecting flights out of Africa, another father in Zanzibar lent him US$25 so that he could get to dar es Salaam to start his journey home. It wasn't easy to track down Mohammed Ali Mohammed, but we did and we returned the money and gave our thanks.</p>
<p>There are parents in every corner of the globe and it is a blessing when a another parent looks after your child. A blessing.</p>
<p>That's what we do when a student stumbles into the CC parent forum. We look after them. And in 90% of the cases, the parents would be grateful. </p>
<p>Knowing that mine would never in seven trillion years ask anyone on this board anything....and guessing that the parent's forum gets a tiny tiny percentage of the overall number of CC student posters, it makes me think that the students who do stumble in looking for help really need it--as my Ss have done and will do in real life.</p>
<p>I will admit that we 'rents (and honorary 'rents) may go overboard - but sometimes I think that these are needed to get a point across. For example, if Carolyn, Alexandre and Jamimom all tell you your kid needs a safety - your kid probably <em>does</em> need a safety!</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am also in awe of how knowledgeable and well spoken/written the parents are on this board. To be honest Im actually rather intimidated (my own insecurities not because of anything said by a poster).
[/quote]
Tututaxi, you helped me out with ballet stuff. We are in the company of some extremely articulate and knowledgeable people. But they generally don't stomp on lesser beings, and I find if stompage begins someone usually calls a halt to it. Post away.</p>