The cell phones and other electronics complicate teen parties/get-togethers in several ways in my experience: 1) As the parent hosting a party, I am uncomfortable that another teen might bring an electronic device with movies and other material that I do not think is appropriate. There are certain movies, for example, I would not allow to be viewed during a teen party at my house. However, I don't know for sure what is being viewed when other kids can easily bring movies, etc. 2) I was at a youth retreat where the girls were in one cabin and the boys in another. We found that the phones were being used to text between girls and boys when the adults went to sleep and to arrange unsupervised meeting places. Yes, teens have been sneaking out for years, but the technology adds an entirely new dimension. 3) DD had a slumber party a few years ago. About midnight I thought I heard the front door shut. I went to check. Something had come up with Molly's family and her mother came to pick her up. She texted Molly when she arrived and Molly left--Molly's parents never talked to me. They felt they were safe because they had direct contact with their daughter. What they didn't realize was that it could have been Molly's boyfriend texting her that he was outside and she left with him and as the host parents we would have known nothing different.

This would raise red flags with me. What are you paying the property manager to do?

I don't know what the common app problems are, but DD has run into this. Several schools (including her first choice) have had difficulty with her transcript and letter from her counselor. Other schools have not had problems with these items. Her counselor says that there have been a lot of problems this year with the common app process.

I live in what many would consider a fairly conservative, Christian area and I have seen examples of the secularization of Christmas. When my kids were in PS a few years ago, there was a big uproar about the "Holiday" music program. There was one song that they were going to sing that had the word "Christmas" in it--it wasn't a religious song, it simply had something along the lines of "it's the Christmas time of year." The administration removed the song from the program. However, Jewish songs to celebrate Hanukkah and songs about Kwanza were allowed. Parents were told that if they said "Merry Christmas" they would be asked to leave the school. A friend who was visiting her daughter's classroom at another elementary school in town was asked by the principal to remove her earrings that were stars that she was wearing with a red sweater in the month of December. She was told that religious jewelry wasn't allowed in the school because of the separation of church and state.

Driving without the headlights on has been used as a gang symbol where I live. I have heard of cases where "probable cause" is interpreted fairly broadly: things like failure to use a blinker, changing lanes too close to an intersection, stopping over a crosswalk line at an intersection, etc. These situations have always seemed to be targeted at teen drivers in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, these situations can end tragically. Nearby, we had a college student shoot and killed by a police officer. http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/10/justice/texas-campus-officer-shooting/ In the week before that, we had a woman attacked by a police officer who forced her in the back of his vehicle after a routine traffic. And, we had another woman who was pulled over by a cop impersonator who attempted to attack her. The police department had sent out information telling people in the area to be on guard because the cop impersonator had not been apprehended. This happened about 1 1/2 miles from where the college student was shot. I have wondered if the student might have been wondering if he was being stopped by a real cop.

If traveling by air, the weight of the luggage is important. Many of the bags marked "lighweight" weigh over 10 pounds. Many airlines limit the weight to 40 pounds; I do not want over 25% of the weight I am allowed to be the weight of the luggage and not what is inside it.

We've taken a few snow days--for us that means traveling somewhere that it has snowed. Because DS enjoys skiing, we call those days "PE"

Have academic consequences been imposed? I don't know what type of online course this is--how it is graded, but is there any consequence that the course provider places on cheating?

pumpkin pancakes

Wow! It is curious that they make such a distinction in the A/B range but not in the lower grade ranges.

This is what is used at my university: A+ Outstanding -- worth 4.00 points A Outstanding -- worth 4.00 points A- Outstanding -- worth 3.67 points B+ Above Average -- worth 3.33 points B Above Average -- worth 3.00 points B- Above Average -- worth 2.67 points C+ Average -- worth 2.33 points C Average -- worth 2.00 points C- Average -- worth 1.67 points D+ Below Average but Passing -- worth 1.33 points D Below Average but Passing – worth 1.00 point D- Below Average but Passing – worth .67 points F Failure (no credit) -- 0 points When began Using a +/- system a couple of years ago and it was controversial. One of the main arguments was that it hurt the straight A students--they got nothing extra for an A+ but their gpa would fall with an A-.

"The CFPB's new rule issued last week, revises the Fed's rule and allows credit card companies to consider the household income for any applicant 21 years or older who can show they have "access" to that shared money." The rule states that credit card companies are "allowed" to consider household income, but they do not have to consider household income. New regulations had been put into place because people were complaining that it was too easy for people to get credit cards and get themselves into too much debt. So, protections were recently put in place that limited what credit card companies could consider as income. This rule loosens that new regulation. This does not guarantee that a credit card company will consider a spouse's or household income in determining credit card eligibility.

We have an artificial tree (partly because of allergies) and because of the concern of keeping a real tree green and preventing a fire hazard. We bought a pre-lit tree a few years ago and have had much less problems than we had with individual light strings going out. I keep thinking about going to a real tree, however. Yes, the pre-lit is a "perfect shape" and is "perfectly formed," but after spending Christmas in Austria last year and seeing everyone out buying their real trees, the "perfect" looks so artificial to me. Also, I think the benefit we get from not having tree allergy issues is offset by the dust allergies from bringing out the tree from storage each year.

In my experience, it is very difficult to have someone banned from campus (especially if it is a state school). Even if the individual is "banned" it does not keep automatically keep them off the campus (just as restraining orders do not necessarily keep people away.) Clearly, your daughter feels threatened and should make plans to take care of herself. I do not see, however, much the university could do at this point unless there are some other particular violations of policies. I think the university officials would be saying, "There is a steak knife sitting on a counter where a refrigerator used to be, and it is turned so that it is pointing toward a picture that has been there. How do we know who put the knife there? How do we know the knife hasn't been there? Could the knife have been under the refrigerator all of the time and now that the refrigerator is gone it is visible? Could the knife have been used to open boxes or cut packing tape--after all someone is moving?" If there hasn't been some specific verbal or written threat, or if someone else hasn't seen a specific action they think is threatening, I don't see much the university can do. You know your daughter, but the university officials don't. Why are they to believe that the knife left in a particular place was meant as a threat to your daughter by a specific person? If there has been conflict between the two roommates, I can see them wondering if a false accusation is being made. (I am not suggesting that your daughter is making a false accusation, I am just saying that if I were a university official without more information, I would not see it as any more likely that Student A leaves a knife pointing at a picture as a threat than that Student B would either make a false accusation or misconstrue a situation.)

Some credit card providers will not allow "joint owners." Much depends on the community property laws of the state in which you reside.

How close were the knife and picture to each other? Was it a picture that had been in that spot for some time? Or did the roommate move the picture and place it in this spot?

I have done all three alone. If I go to a restaurant alone, I will usually take a book. I have only been to a movie alone a couple of times, but I don't go to movies often. To me, it is the most obvious to do alone--I find watching a movie in a theater a fairly solitary experience--even when I am with others.

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback! I will probably do chicken--we are so tired of turkey at our house, I was hoping to come up with something a bit more decadent. Perhaps a chocolate mouse with real whipped cream will make things a bit more special.

One girl in our neighborhood hosts a "child craft day" at her house--especially on a day before Christmas when parents want to wrap gifts, do some last-minute shopping, or other activities. Kids are dropped off at a particular time, play some outdoor games, do a few crafts, are fed a simple lunch (or bring their own lunch) and then are all picked up at the same time--somewhat like a parents day out.

I invited a colleague and his wife to dinner next week. After accepting the invitation, they sent me this list of food allergies: Allergic to: beef and other ruminants such as deer, buffalo, elk, etc, wheat, ALL citrus, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, cashews, peas, white type potatoes, raw carrots but cooked are good. Of course I read a lot of labels and cook from scratch a lot. Starches of potatoes and peas, nut oils, beef broth, citrus acid and citric that is often derived from citrus are all hidden ingredients. Chicken, lamb, pork, turkey, duck are great. Most green veggies are perfect. Sweet Potatoes, onions, cooked carrots, etc. I am good with dairy. And maybe most important chocolate as long as there is no wheat or nuts with that. This rules out all of my "go to" company dinner menus. Does anyone have a great menu/recipe suggestion. (I really don't like trying new things out on dinner guests--but I don't have time to do a trial run of recipes before they come over.) I prefer to have casserole-type dishes, or something else that doesn't require last-minute prep when I have company so that I can visit with them rather than cook. Also, I have other commitments the day they are coming over, so I can't do a lot of last-minute prep.

While this can be used as a lesson for future, more consequential matters, I think that the lesson is easily lost in all of the upset over the incident. I would prefer for my children to learn this lesson: There are consequences for not getting my responsibilities done. No one (that I know) always gets every responsibility done that they are supposed to get done. When you don't get your responsibilities done you are in a bind--do you now take out the trash (and miss your bus, be late to school, and deal with those consequences)? Or, do you take the bus and get to school on time and deal with the consequences of not taking the trash out when you get home (extra chores now, smelly house when living alone, etc.)? Neglecting different responsibilities will have different consequences (the consequence of not taking out the trash is different than the consequence of not filling up the gas tank). I think being able to discern which consequences to take when my kids get themselves into a bind (which she did) is an important life lesson.

Does she catch the bus by herself? (I am not understanding the "before WE left") What exactly was she upset and embarrassed by? Was she embarrassed for classmates to see her catching the bus at another stop? Was she mad at you for making her take the bus (i.e. is the issue that she is wanting you to drive her to school rather than take the bus?)--is something happening that she wants to avoid taking the bus? Or, was she upset about having to take the trash out? Personally, I would not have made her take out the trash if the cost was missing the bus (especially if it were more work for me). I would not stop to take out the trash if it were going to make me late for work. I would not expect DH to be late for work to complete a chore, even if he had told me the day before that he would do so. I also would not have given DD the option of staying home from school, but, there would be consequences for DD when she got home.

http://www.studyabroad-germany.eu/ I also know some students who enjoyed this summer program in Heidelberg through University of Incarnate Word.

This is a great program if he is interested in Classics--dd did the high school program and I know some college students who have done the college program through UD. I have personally led a number of college study abroad programs, and I was impressed by how UD's program was run. University of New Orleans has a month-long program in Innsbruck, Austria. It is a rather large program that lasts about a month. http://inst.uno.edu/austria/. It isn't merely focused on the classics and a wide range of students attend the program--some who are more serious students than others. Innsbruck is a safe, beautiful home base and students have the ability to travel on weekends to other locations.

I find that for the college classes I teach--finance and economics--students who try to type their notes do not do as well as those who write their notes. It may work in some other types of classes, but finance and economics notes are interspersed with equations and graphs. Even the students who can type most quickly are not able to insert those items into their typewritten notes efficiently. I know that there are many other things I do when I take notes, such as draw lines and arrows to make connects, circle important concepts, etc. that it would be impossible to do when typing notes.