These are all great! Thanks---I'm so bad at this. They are not overseas. They are from this area, just moved to the other side of the country .....but there is a local commodity of sorts that I know they'd love to have---I just didn't think of that till I read this. (Told you I was bad at this;-). Will definitely do this. I like the tickets idea that several mentioned also. I have no idea what they'd like, but dd will easily be able to come up with something---if not now, definitely by the time she's spent time with them. And, she'd also really enjoy putting together a small album for them. These were really good ideas, guys! Thank you!!!

I cannot think of a "normal" offense that would cause me to have her withdraw from that situation. If she actually broke a law or something (underage drinking/drug use, etc), where there were legal consequences, that would be a different situation. Short of that, I can't imagine it would be a punishment I'd use if I didn't have a choice.

Dd(17) will be spending a couple of weeks with relatives this summer. These are "distant" relatives, so not like grandparents or aunts/uncles. They were very kind to offer this experience for her, as they live quite far away, in a place that dd would not otherwise have the opportunity to visit. There are many, many options for things to experience while there, both activity/fun wise and experiences related to her chosen field of study. So we are very thankful. We know the family well enough to feel no qualms about her going whatsoever, but we do only see a few hours once a year. My question is how/what to gift them for a "thank you". Obviously, she has (and we have) verbally thanked them for the generous offer in each conversation we've had while making arrangements. And she will definitely send a thank you note once she's back. Beyond that though, I feel like she should probably take a gift and/or send one upon return (possibly both?). But I have no idea what to send. I would love suggestions. (If it matters, they are a couple in their early 30s) TIA

We need to do econ next year too. I've heard two suggestions so far. One was just to go to the local cc bookstore and pick up whatever textbook they are using for Econ 101, and the other was to get "Economics in a Box". I haven't had a chance to look into either yet, so I'll be watching this thread also.

Wow! I didn't get an email, but saw this and decided to go check the website....still nothing for us. Hoping for first batch tomorrow.

Not the op, but curious because I've never thought about legalities. Would using something like Pandora or iheart be the same as radio? That way you'd be able to skip the dj, but not have commercials and such breaks in music and have a little more control.

dd was just telling me yesterday about a friend (girl) of hers whose parents have told her that they would not pay for college for her because she's a girl. I understand every parent cannot send their kids to school, and that's one thing. But this is simply because she's a girl. They have paid for the older boy child's college, and plan to pay for the younger boy child's college. But she and the oldest sister, nope. It's sad, really. I knew the older sister didn't go to college, but I never though much about it. I didn't realize she may have wanted to go, but didn't feel like she could do it without parental support.

Ah. Dd said the extra section was very difficult....but she also said that could have been because she was already brain dead from the actual test. After she got home, she said her friend, who took it at the same place, got history readings for her extra section. Interesting.

Two of my dc took the ACT today. They just called me and said there was an extra math section. Anyone know what this is? She said it was at the end. Not just additional questions on the math part, but an entirely different section. She has taken it several times, and said the rest of the test was the same as it's been being. She said the proctor said this section wouldn't count toward the score, it was just some sort of "survey". I hadn't read or heard anything about it, so was just wondering what it was.

I agree. It's just....odd to me. The first year he went, I called the youth pastor to see why we couldn't just pay the fee. I actually even offered to pay for two people, thinking that it was just that one of the kids needed money, so they had everyone send the letters to keep from singling out one or two students. I was told that "they" (not sure who "they" is) liked for the students to compose the letter telling a bit about themselves and why they wished to go, and to include any personal thoughts or fears they may have about going, what they hoped to accomplish/gain, etc. They were to ask for prayer, in addition to the money (of course!), and felt the letters gave the person receiving the letter more information. He (youth pastor) told me they actually have people request to get letters more often (I guess there's some sort of rotation?) because they like to "get to know the youth" and know what trips are going on. There is a lot of older people at the church, so maybe it's just a way to make them feel more connected----though surely there are much better ways to do that. Honestly, the first year, I almost didn't allow him to go solely because of the letter thing, but after talking to the youth pastor, I decided that, though I didn't like it, I do think they mean well, and apparently the members of this church are on board with it and don't feel like I do about it. I do think the money received from the letters goes into one account, not to the individual letters....not positive about that part, but I think so.

My ds is goes on a summer trip with his youth group that involves serving at a special needs camp through Joni and Friends. The cost is only a couple hundred dollars I think, which he would have been happy to pay himself (or I would have paid if he didn't have the money).. However, the church actually required that he send out support letters to members of the congregation (not just for this trip but for all "mission trips". The thought is that some people are "called to go" and others (who can't go for whatever reason) are "called to send". I think there was a certain number they were supposed to send to the members, and then they could send additional ones outside the church if they wanted. Well, he (and I) felt weird about it anyway, so he definitely did not send any outside the church. It didn't feel soooo bad sending to church membership, because they all know the policy of this particular church's mission trip policy. I am not a member of this church, so I don't get letters. However, ds has gotten a couple over the last couple of years, and I have contributed, since I know the situation, and know that other people have paid his way. (I know that's not at all what is in the OP's situation, but just sharing how some places do it, so that people know it's not necessarily the teen that is trying to get a free trip) Edited to add: The support letter requirement is a church requirement----not a Joni and Friends requirement. (Just didn't want anyone who thought the policy was inappropriate to think less of the JAF organization;-)

I vote crazy. I usually choose to leave things like teachers rules/decisions alone, but I believe I'd say something in this situation.

Great news! Hopefully you and ds can get a good meal and rest well tonight knowing things are looking up.

So glad to see the update. I know it doesn't sound like wonderful news with it being your dh in there, but it sounds like the doctors are on top of things and feel like the issues can be resolved. Try to get rest. And food. Continuing to pray for your family.

Still praying for your family. Still hoping for the best and hoping you are getting some much needed rest for whatever lies ahead.

Prayers for your family.

It used to not stop me at all (except for TeA), but that is not the case now. I never thought I'd have hormonal issues pre-/during menopause because I had never had pms symptoms in my younger years. But golly was I wrong :-(. Terrible cramps, migraines, heavy flow, etc etc etc certainly slow me down these days. Thankfully (at least for now), it's confined to one or two days per cycle. But the onset of issues took me by surprise, and I am embarrassed at the ignorance of my teen and younger adult self and feel bad for thinking my pms-ing friends were wimps. So to those who experience this for their entire menstruating life, you have my deepest sympathy!

Come on, you can do it...We are gonna be ringing our cowbells, just because:-). We bleed maroon too, but we are also SEC fans. So tonight.... It's Roll Tide!

We will be Bama fans tonight. Roll Tide! SEC all the way!!

I voted no for the same reasons as the others. Adult female.

Around here homeschooling high school is considered all or nothing once you hit 9th grade. It is not *impossible* to get in after that, but there are so many hoops that for all but the most extenuating circumstances it's just not worth the trouble.

I would not "make" a 17 year old go anywhere he/she did not want to go. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't encourage something I thought would be a good experience. And I wouldn't hesitate to explicitly point out reasons or possible positive outcomes of such experiences--and also any possibilities of later experiences that may be forfeited if this one was declined. Then I would leave it at that.

I'm not sure if this is a possibility where you live, but..... I had a friend in a similar situation with her dd and dh. They ended up finding a community college that was about an hour and a half a way with on campus living. This cc has very good ratings, but is virtually unknown around our town because there is a cc within 10 minute drive, so most cc bound students just go there without really much thought of other options. Anyway, she lived on campus at the cc, but was still close enough for parents to be able to help out with anything that came up. I don't think she ever needed their assistance though, because this turned out to be a fantastic place for her. She blossomed in ways that her parents never dreamed. After two successful years there, she transferred to a small university about 3 hours away (her choice---where originally, before the cc, she had wanted to go straight to big uni two states over. Because of her grades/club activities at the cc, she was able to get a scholarship. Due to her grades and other issues, she would not have gotten scholarships as an incoming freshman at a uni. She is in her senior year doing well. Like I said, I'm not sure that is an option for you, but the point is it may not be an all-or-nothing. Maybe the three of you can do some research for some mutually acceptable alternatives.

Hopefully your item will still make it in time. I got a similar email this morning, that said my package was delayed in transit and it would be late (scheduled delivery was tomorrow). But not 10 minutes after getting that email, UPS showed up with my package---a day early. I was just curious so went and looked on UPS tracking, where they had made two notations that flight delays had caused delays and they were working to get the package moved asap. So I'm thinking that UPS is updating, then amazon updates to cover themselves. But as it turned out in this case, UPS apparently compensated for the delay. Hopefully, your package will show up when it's supposed to. But they shouldn't yell at you either way!

This may be dependent on school, and also class titles may vary, but at the cc where my dd is enrolled, the progression is College Alg, then trig, then calculus. They don't offer "pre-cal". I guess this may be considered equiv. to trig??? dd actually tested into trig, but since it was her first de class, we opted for the college algebra anyway. But ymmv, as her degree of choice doesn't require that much math.