Our gratitude goes to all the soldiers who’ve fought so hard for us …
Monthly Archives: May 2011
How Parents Are Becoming De Facto High School Counselors
I woke up this morning from a dream where I was frantically trying to get Rene into this college art class. …
Deep sigh …
Must be all the high-school/jr-high-school counseling I’ve been doing lately.
So why have I been playing high-school/jr-high-school counselor?
Well, because that’s just what moms do now. (You moms of juniors and seniors know what I’m talking about.)
Here’s what’s been on the agenda this spring:
- Attending “welcome night” in the grade school MPR to select Nate’s electives for junior high next year.
- Attending “open house” at the junior high for even more information and to figure out Nate’s electives. (Does he need a foreign language? What happens to when these trimester ones end? Will any of these put him behind in high school?).
- Selecting high school electives for Rene next year. (Why can’t she get an art class? Does that mean she can’t take an AP art? Do all colleges require 2 years of foreign language? Does Health count as an elective? What if she plays sports?)
- Overriding certain classes that Rene really wanted but didn’t get into. (Still trying to figure out the paperwork on this one.)
- Sending Ricky’s transcripts to the schools he applied to, along with SAT scores and such.
- Researching scholarship opportunities.
The thing that’s striking me through this entire spring is how much parents really need to be involved as de facto high school counselors. I mean, when we were all in high school, we had actual high school counselors. Our counselors met with us every semester, made sure we were taking the right courses, made sure we were passing them, helped us know what we needed for college, helped us know when to apply to colleges, found us scholarships if we needed them, sent our transcripts in for us, helped us apply to honors societies, etc. Our parents didn’t need to know all this stuff. Continue reading
Happy Friday! And a Facebook Funny for You…
I just want to give a little shout-out to the always-funny Tracy Kunzler today, who does humorous posts for me one Friday a month over at Health Bistro.
Today, she had a hilarious post about “tagging” photos on Facebook, and those mistakes we see our teens (and their friends) making:
Girls, I know it’s hard to believe now, but there may come a day when you’re not as proud of posing with your tongue out as though you’re about to lick your girlfriend as you are today. I know, I know. It’s such a great look, but learn from someone older (OK, much older) that your tastes will change.
Here’s the whole post: Facebook Photos — Forget TMI; These Days There Can Be TMP. Go check her out and say hi!
And here’s Tracy’s own blog if you want to read more of her: Ungirdled Passion.
3 for Thursday: 3 Pets You’ve Loved
Maybe it was your first dog Skippy, maybe it was a neighbor’s rabbit, or maybe it was that silly hamster of your daughter’s — Which are 3 pets you’ve truly loved?
‘It’s a MAJOR Award!’
(Applause and pixie dust if you can guess that movie quote…)
I swung by the elementary school on my way to work this morning (along with Superman) to see our boy get a schoolwide award for Best Sportsmanship. (Go Nate!)
Each month, the local Walgreens sponsors the award and gives one winning child from the whole school a goodie bag. They then put the child’s photo up on the wall of the local Walgreens store. So if you’re in my neighborhood in the near future, swing by Walgreens and see Mr. June – Sportsmanship!
Nathan’s so cool. And I love when my kids win awards for being good and kind to others, and becoming more beautiful in the heart. …
Go Nate! You always make us proud, kid. …