Just out of curiosity, and possibly for the benefit of future applicants, what did you guys highlight in your parent statements? I really struggled in writing mine, but tried to write from the heart - both in accurate assessment of Britkids, and in my expectations for the BS experience. I hadn’t given it a thought after submission of the application, but just found drafts on my computer while looking for something else. I just reread the ‘essay’ for the first time since early Jan.
and found myself feeling all emotional about it. I think it is an accurate description, but I hope I wasn’t a little too honest about foibles and downsides - in addition to singing praises. What was your experience?
@Britmom5: It sounds like your statement is perfect. There really is no need to embellish yours kid’s accomplishments in the parent statement–there is an entire application for your kiddo to do that himself. I think the parent statement is a place for the BS to get a sense of your support for your child’s decision to attend BS and how you as a family will fit into their community. Honesty is great and probably a breath of fresh air to most readers. If you actually provided a grounded picture of your child and some real weaknesses (not of the “DC is so overscheduled but is using that to improve his time managements skills” ilk), I think that reflects well on you.
Know, too, that barring anything that indicates you are unsupportive of your child’s application (or will be an ongoing PITA), your statement will not affect the school’s decision. I’m sure your statement is fine. Don’t lose any sleep over it.
Thanks, Choatiemom!
What I enjoyed about writing the parent statement was looking back and considering how important (or not) certain experiences were to my son. He had been an above average student until suddenly, he was considered brilliant by his teachers and with the help of hindsight, I could identify the experiences that helped him to grow in confidence and abilities. That was fun to write.
it was also interesting to consider my expectations of certain activities or grades and how they didn’t seem important, really. For awhile he loved hockey, for example, and our family devoted a lot of resources to hockey but then his interest faded and there isn’t much else to say. On the other hand, he happened upon an experimental music program a couple of years ago. Totally free, can walk there himself, entered into it on a whim and it’s been life changing for him.
I really enjoyed the parent statements and frankly, I was hoping to have the opportunity to discuss my thoughts in more detail during the interviews, but of course,mother interviews were more about the boy than me or my husband. That was a bit of a mind shift.
I enjoyed writing parents’ statements, too, although it was so time-consuming.
I tried mostly to express why I, as a parent, support my son for having the boarding school experience and what I would expect from it. I did not talk too much about my son. I thought his own essays, teacher recs and others on his application paper would handle that. The best thing is that I could look back and think about my role as a parent and my expectation on him as a parent. I did not, again, talk about his strengths or weaknesses.
I enjoyed writing too but then had to shorten them a lot as it was embarrassing to have longer parent’s essays than student essays. 
8-| Ooooops Payn4ward!
We pulled up the essay we had written about him when we were applying to private K-8. May have made me cry a bit, was amazing to see how much the way we described him then is the way we would describe him now. Illustrated with slightly different anecdotes 9 years later but he is still the great kid he was then. Can not believe how quickly the time has gone by