My son had mono last semester. He sent an FYI email to each of his professors explaining that he had mono and that he was going to do his best to keep up with assignments and attend class, but...... just in case his class participation seems lacking - this is why. Luckily, his classes were all in the afternoons so he got to sleep 10-12 hours straight each day. Since he was so foggy mind-wise, he gave me the password to his student account so I could access his syllabus (syllabi ??) for his classes. I made a calendar with showing when the rest of his assignment were due and emailed it (with reminders) to him. This really helped him stay focused when so sick with not only mono, but strep throat and a knee injury (crutches) from a varsity mens' crew team competition. On the down side, he had to stop crew. On the bright side, he ended up getting his highest GPA that semester! Go figure! Myra

My son had mono last semester. He sent an FYI email to each of his professors explaining that he had mono and that he was going to do his best to keep up with assignments and attend class, but...... just in case his class participation seems lacking - this is why. Luckily, his classes were all in the afternoons so he got to sleep 10-12 hours straight each day. Since he was so foggy mind-wise, he gave me the password to his student account so I could access his syllabus (syllabi ??) for his classes. I made a calendar with showing when the rest of his assignment were due and emailed it (with reminders) to him. This really helped him stay focused when so sick with not only mono, but strep throat and a knee injury (crutches) from a varsity mens' crew team competition. On the down side, he had to stop crew. On the bright side, he ended up getting his highest GPA that semester! Go figure! Myra

Right out of college, I landed my first public school teaching job when during the interview the principal commented that she was in the same honor society in college and that she'd be glad to hire me to help a "sister" out! Hopefully, my other qualifications factored in but the honor society definitely gave me an edge. (I never told her I attended zero of their meetings and events!) Plus just this year, the chairman of the classics society mentioned to my son during his interview for their Masters Program that he was impressed with his membership in three honor societies for classics and/or economics. They noticed and so it definitely was worth the $25 to join. Myra

My son got acceptance to state university masters program in classics but the acceptance letter said no funds (student loans/ ta positions/etc) for master programs at all except eligible for GradPlus loans. Ugh! Myra

We've used Chegg.com to rent and to buy used textbooks twice now - and have been happy with their service. Both times I paid $10 for two day shipping and got it that quickly and they advertise two week return policy for any reason! Far cheaper than the campus bookstore for used and/or new and/or rentals. Myra

There is one problem with continuing with home care with help for a longer term solution. Looking back, it has been nice having both my parents living in their own home together with someone that comes from 9-12 and a different person from 3-6 daily (parents nap in the afternoon and then in evening watch tv and go to bed early) BUT...... as the time is quickly approaching where both of my parents will need more care, most assisted living places won't let both of my parents live in an assisted-living apartment because of my mother's Alzheimers whereas if they moved in a few years ago they could have, and most likely, still would be allowed to coexist in one of the apartments and not be separated. The places we've checked out wan Alzheimer patients to live in a Memory Ward and my father in the assisted-living apartments alone. So... what is the next step? Who knows? Myra

I think that it is definitely hard for a man of your father's generation to give up control in his life. With my father, we started out with hiring a cleaning person to come to the house once a week to "help" mom out with laundry and household stuff. After that was accepted by my dad and became routine then we found a stay-at-home mom (neighbor) who was willing (for pay) to do the grocery shopping and prepare breakfast and lunch at the house. We sort of snuck help into his life until people coming and going became routine. As things progressed, we have someone that comes from 9-12 and a different person from 3-6 daily (parents nap in the afternoon and then in evening watch tv and go to bed early). Luckily, my parents live in Florida in a 55+ community so people who needed the extra cash and had the available schedules made this work. That's where we are in this scenario. Myra

Budget help needed..... My son is living in a campus townhouse this year with 5 other of his buddies. Now he just totally cancelled his meal plan and plans on cooking exclusively. So how much should I transfer to his debit card each week to budget for those groceries? Keep in mind that he is 6'2" and 185 lbs of solid muscle and also rows on the varsity crew team. Myra

My son just switched to no meal plan. Can you give me a heads up about how much your son budgets for food each week? Thanks, Myra

And now it's time for you to get familiar with home repair videos on you tube! We use them seriously all the time to see if we can trouble shoot and repair things on our own. Even though we are clueless, we have repaired the fridge once, the washing machine once, and the dryer 4 times! And that's just appliances!!! We also found a discount appliance part store that let's us come in and chat about the problem & buy the parts needed (with lots of encouragement and instructions on how to fix the problem) A few times they even let us return the part when it didn't solve the problem! This morning we are busy re-caulking around the front door and treating an ant nest near it - all by following you tube videos! Good luck, Myra

Just curious - we have a propane water heater also - would you share how much it runs you for propane per month. i live in upstate NY and we are paying around $85 per month just for propane alone.

Gravel driveways can be snowplowed - you just have to have to ask the truck/plow driver to raise the actual plow/shovel part up 2-3 inches. It is common practice here in upstate New York. Myra

While looking over monthly budget, I got thinking about utility bills and wondering what they are for everyone else. I live in upstate New York and pay monthly: $90 for propane gas (for water heater and backup forced water/furnace heating) $40 towards wood (heat by wood stove so put this aside each month to save up to buy 4 cords of wood in the Fall) $90 electricity $25 town dump (take 2 trash bags there every Saturday) $0 - water as have own well $80 month for terrible and slow internet (have no option as only one carrier provides service in area) $115 - cellphone (no land line) SO what is everyone else paying/using? Just curious, Myra

It is common around here for private high schools and college prep schools where full payment of the tuition costs is required whether your child finishes the school year or not. The insurance is not cheap. However, I have never heard of anyone using it at the college level. Myra

Make sure that charge lasts 4-5 hours so that you can use it to take class notes. My sons found that anything less than 3 hours was totally useless as they could not make it through a day and/or morning session of note taking & class labs before the computer ran out of juice. Also size is important - make sure that it fits easily into backpack with a full load of books Check with computer tech/student help department at the college - these are the people that troubleshoot problems for the students esp. with hooking up to wi-fi, downloading programs required by professors, helping "crashed" computers, etc. My boys have gone to them several times during their undergraduate years for assistance. They might have some suggestions with laptops that mesh well with the system and ones that don't. Also some colleges have requirements for specifics depending on the major of your student - whereas some don't. Good Luck, Myra

Right there with you - I find it gets harder as they get older. They want and should be treated like young adults, but yet................ Myra

And when you are buying all these things - remember those with allergies and get dye free, scent free, etc. My oldest always has to reclean and air his dorm room to get rid of scents from febreeze, aftershave, "smelly" soaps & deodorants, room deodorizers, etc.

That's all we use for laundry now. I found that it saves $$ in that my sons (who have been doing their own laundry) would dump in too much detergent and this is a measured amount. At college, it is a lot easier to just grab a pod and toss it in the machine then toting back and forth the liquid/dry detergent. As far as brands, so far we've used All detergent free and dye-free due to allergies so I can't tell you about generic brands. Myra

Contact some moving companies and ask about "piggy-backing" - when I moved stuff from mid-west to back east, Bekins Moving company piggy-backed my stuff. Essentially, it meant that whenever they had extra room in a truck for my small lot of stuff and were heading to my area anyways they would call the day before to pick up my belongings and deliver them in route to where the rest of truck was headed. It was a whole lot cheaper because there was no set time frame for pick up and delivery - mine took 2 months before I finally got my stuff but it was worth it financially. Now this was 10 years ago Myra Edited to add: Just last year, a friend moved from upstate New York to Texas. The moving company charged her by the linear foot for how much space their stuff took up.

Put on a butterfly bandage that is used to close wounds - you can get them at most pharmacies or pretty much any where they sell bandaids. It would give you the extra support. Myra

My son will be graduating next week with a BA dual major in economics and classics. The former being just for fun and the later is his true passion. He's been accepted into a classics masters program this Fall with hopes on eventually getting a PhD in classics. But he had to map out his courses starting right away his freshman year. As it was, he only had one elective in the four years of undergraduate work. My youngest was undecided on a major until this semester - his second semester his sophomore year. There is no way he could complete a dual major and still graduate in 4 years so instead he'll get one major and one minor. Myra Edited to add: I would advise any college student, whether dual major or not, to meet with an advisor to map out the sequence. Dual majors should also meet with an advisor from each department. Be careful to check out the college's CAPP report (or whatever they call it at your school) to make sure the courses are being recorded correctly for each major. My son had a problem where the computer-generated report didn't correctly identify the coursework under the right requirement heading. He had to go to the registrar to straighten it out. Remember, your college kid is his/her best own advocate.

Hmmmm - I have only shipped and received items sent by media mail. I guess I have been lucky because I have never had any problems at all. The material always has arrived in good condition and on time PLUS it has always been so much cheaper for books. I do encourage people to pay the extra fee for insurance - just in case, but I would do that for any purchase regardless of mailing option. As far as PayPal goes, there is a fee for the sales transaction. I can't remember what it is exactly but I am sure you can find it on the PayPal website. Personally, I wait until I get a confirmation from paypal with the shipping address/name and that the money has been transferred into my account before I mail any packages. Myra

But on a positive note, my other son just got accepted to his first choice grad school for Masters in Classics! Myra

My eldest son is graduating this May 2016. Although he plans on taking a gap year before starting graduate school for his masters, he thought he'd "test the waters" and apply to his first choice grad school program. Great news - he was accepted!!!! However, he would still like to take the gap year to improve his language skills in Greek, Latin, and French. The general FAQ section of graduate website says that the college will grant up to 1 year deferments for grad school programs. Although nothing is stated on the specific Classics MA webpage, we are assuming that they follow the college's general policy. So my questions are......When requesting a deferment..........: 1.) Do you contact the Classics Department or the general graduate school admissions department? 2.) Is it necessary to give detail reasons for the request or just a blanket statement requesting deferment? Any advice? Thanks, Myra

Are you referring to the health center? Thanks, Myra