In a pickle - need some perspective

[Miss Marple]

Ds#1 is getting married in June. Ds#2 planned a "bachelor" ski trip for January. Both of these boys are at the state school which doesn't start spring classes until Jan. 17. This is a huge event for all involved (dad, brothers, cousins, friends - me? I'm staying home in a nice quiet house).

 

Ds#3 has decided he wants to do concurrent enrollment at our local university. The problem I'm running into is that the local school starts a week earlier - the week they will be skiing.

 

He's looking at 3 classes:

Microcomputer Applications - he would miss 1 class. Probably not a problem. The first few classes are so basic, and he is a bit of a computer nerd.

Government - he could miss a class or I could sign him up for a 1 evening a week class that meets for 2.5 hours and he would not miss anything (definitely not ideal - this boy doesn't have that long of attention span).

Spanish 1 - this is the big problem. He would miss the first 2 classes. I could sign him up for the online Spanish class and have him log on while on the trip. But I really don't want him to take a language online - so I thought that we might be able to do that first week online, then change to a regular class when he returns. Is this a possibility?

 

Am I setting him up for problems with long hours and switching around? How would you go about addressing the teachers about missing a class?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Ds#1 is getting married in June. Ds#2 planned a "bachelor" ski trip for January. Both of these boys are at the state school which doesn't start spring classes until Jan. 17. This is a huge event for all involved (dad, brothers, cousins, friends - me? I'm staying home in a nice quiet house).

 

Ds#3 has decided he wants to do concurrent enrollment at our local university. The problem I'm running into is that the local school starts a week earlier - the week they will be skiing.

 

He's looking at 3 classes:

Microcomputer Applications - he would miss 1 class. Probably not a problem. The first few classes are so basic, and he is a bit of a computer nerd.

Government - he could miss a class or I could sign him up for a 1 evening a week class that meets for 2.5 hours and he would not miss anything (definitely not ideal - this boy doesn't have that long of attention span).

Spanish 1 - this is the big problem. He would miss the first 2 classes. I could sign him up for the online Spanish class and have him log on while on the trip. But I really don't want him to take a language online - so I thought that we might be able to do that first week online, then change to a regular class when he returns. Is this a possibility?

 

Am I setting him up for problems with long hours and switching around? How would you go about addressing the teachers about missing a class?

 

The first class might be basic in the sense of not having a lot of instruction in the subject. But it is the opportunity for the instructor to explain the standards of the course, answer questions and form first impressions.

 

Maybe the college has a fair number of students who are transferring between courses in the first few weeks. But I think that it might set up a student as less than serious to miss the first week of classes (especially if they are high school age, but trying to work at the college level). It might set up a scenario where the instructor forms a negative impression of them at the beginning.

 

Could the ski trip be moved to an earlier date?

 

(NB: I have to admit that my attitude about missing classes stems in part from an undergraduate experience where skipping was a violation of the college conduct rules. You only missed classes for things like medical appointments, not because you were busy or thought the class wasn't worth your time. In my grad school time, I noticed that the students who didn't come to class didn't do as well as the older students who were in class nearly every single session, despite having families and jobs. So that may bias my impression.)

[Miss Marple]

Unfortunately, the condo has been booked and paid for, the lift tickets bought, and others have scheduled time off from work. So, no, they can't change the date of the trip.

 

I, too, wondered about the perception particularly because it would be a high school student. I can set up a schedule that will allow him to not miss classes, but it will mean a whole semester of a bad schedule. But that may be the best way to go, in the end, to avoid any problems with professors.

[kiana]

I agree with Sebastian. It looks incredibly bad to the professors.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Unfortunately, the condo has been booked and paid for, the lift tickets bought, and others have scheduled time off from work. So, no, they can't change the date of the trip.

 

I, too, wondered about the perception particularly because it would be a high school student. I can set up a schedule that will allow him to not miss classes, but it will mean a whole semester of a bad schedule. But that may be the best way to go, in the end, to avoid any problems with professors.

 

Could he only go for part of the trip? Go early or late so as not to miss classes.

 

Or perhaps he has to make the choice that his school work has the priority.

 

I just fear that you're saying on one hand "I'm such a mature student that I should be treated as a fellow college level student" and "I think skipping class for a ski trip is fine".

 

I'm not saying that family is not important. But that part of being grown up is not only going to the adult milestone celebration events, but also knowing when you have to put the priority somewhere else. (Again, I have to caveat this with the perspective that our family situation with military committments means often rescheduling birthdays and missing other big events.)

 

I know the beauty of homeschooling is scheduling flexibility. But that is part of what you give up with outside course work.

[G5052]

I'm a professor, and it is VERY common for a few students to miss the first class in January. Some classes start next week, and it just doesn't quite work for some to start that early. I'm personally fine with that, and have never penalized a student who misses the first class for any reason. I take attendance, but don't count that day towards their grade because it is such a transition day. The full syllabus and all of my assignments are online, so if they email me that they're going to miss the first class and have checked everything online, it is no big deal. It is also not uncommon for a few to add after the first class, and I take the same approach there -- read the documents. I have an online syllabus quiz due at the second class that tests whether they know my policies anyway.

 

Given that your student is comfortable with computers, I'd take that class and have them email the professor that they'll miss. I wouldn't give details about why, just that he'll miss and that he'd appreciate guidance on how to handle that. Maybe even email before registering to get a sense of how responsive the professor is to that.

 

I wouldn't recommend online Spanish, and the government class might be more of a problem. Evening classes are indeed tough if attention is an issue. I teach in the evening and most of my students zone out after about an hour.

[Miss Marple]

Well, no, there really is no good way to have him do part of the trip. Either end will mean he will miss a class. And my feeling is that missing the trip is not optional - they are 4 very close brothers and they would feel lost if one didn't come. The problem is that the trip was planned before he/we decided that he could do concurrent.

 

But I can make the schedule work so that he will not miss classes - but it means a less than ideal schedule and/or class situation (online vs. building).

 

I know that the computer class won't be a problem because the two oldest have taken that class. I can have him take Freshman Comp instead of government and that will work with the schedule but it isn't really what I wanted him to accomplish although he can do government over the summer or in the fall. The option that bothers me the most, though, is online Spanish.

 

Have any of you seen a student move from an online class to a classroom class in the same subject? If he does the first few classes of Spanish online and then moves into a classroom, would you anticipate any problems?

 

We had not planned to do concurrent for his junior year because his scores, while they would be accepted, were not where I wanted them to be (he has a learning disability), but he has taken off the past few months and did so well on the ACT that when I suggested doing concurrent this spring, he was very agreeable and excited.

[Cera]

I wouldn't worry about it. The first week of class is generally intro stuff and fairly easy (especially with first year classes). The add/drop period will probably end after the first week so there will be other kids entering class after the first meeting or two.

 

If he is really concerned (or you are) you could get in touch with the professor ahead of time to set up an appointment during office hours to go over the material he will miss.

[littleWMN]

Can you set up the schedule to where he won't miss, then try to change it after the trip?

 

Personally, I'd have him contact the professors and ask what he will miss. Then I'd not worry about it.

[Brenda in MA]

If you know who the professors will be, can you contact them and explain the situation? It sounds like missing the computer class wouldn't be a huge deal.

 

The other two, I think I'd at least try to have your son contact the instructors via email before the classes start. Perhaps he could ask if they would send along the syllabus so he can be ready once he returns from the trip.

 

Setting up the scheduling for the whole semester to accomodate one week doesn't sound like a great idea either. I definitely understand the conundrum.

 

BTW, congrats to your oldest on his upcoming marriage! Maybe we'll be calling you grandma soon!

 

Brenda

[Photo Ninja]

Our cc has long lists of students wanting to add classes the first week of school. If a student who enrolled in the class doesn't come to the first week of classes, the instructor can give away their spot in class to a student who wants to add. That may not be the policy where your ds will go to school, but it makes it essential that a student come to the first week of classes here. I just wanted to mention it in case you have not considered it.

 

This is a tough decision.

[Miss Marple]

Setting up the scheduling for the whole semester to accomodate one week doesn't sound like a great idea either

 

This is exactly the problem. I don't mind switching government for freshman comp. (online), though, because he would take that next fall - so I'm just switching things around. And this online is one that my oldest son took (same prof) and it worked out so much better online than the class was for those who took it at the school (rather raunchy reading list).

[Miss Marple]

Can you set up the schedule to where he won't miss, then try to change it after the trip?

 

 

This is what I hope to do, but have never known anyone to do it - going from an online to a classroom.

[Miss Marple]

Our cc has long lists of students wanting to add classes the first week of school. If a student who enrolled in the class doesn't come to the first week of classes, the instructor can give away their spot in class to a student who wants to add. That may not be the policy where your ds will go to school, but it makes it essential that a student come to the first week of classes here. I just wanted to mention it in case you have not considered it.

 

This is a tough decision.

 

That definitely means that we need to talk to the profs before hand. We certainly don't want to lose our space. I know that all the schools have had record enrollment the past few semesters and the concurrent students usually get the leftovers. Do you think it would be weird for me (the mom) to call? Or should I have him do it? Since he is still high school, I'm still supposed to be involved (like a school counselor), but it is college...so maybe not?

[RootAnn]

On the gov't class, can he attend the first (long) class as a spectator (kind of "making up" the missed ones from the week before), but be enrolled in the one you really want? (Or are they different professors?)

 

I'd just talk to the professors beforehand for computers & Spanish - making sure he's prepared once he arrives for his first (their third?) class.

 

On who should call, I'd try emailing first (from your son's email - but you help with the email as far as what it should say). If you don't get a reply, I'd call as the parent (but with the understanding that you are doing it as the 'school counselor' and your son should handle all interactions from there on out). (If my kids had independent personalities, I'd say to have them handle the call. Only my #3 is shaping up that way, however.)

[Dana]

This is what I hope to do, but have never known anyone to do it - going from an online to a classroom.

 

This would likely only work if it's the same instructor. With different instructors it's not likely to work.

 

If instructors are published now, some have web pages and have their syllabi up.

 

At the college where I teach, my department has a number of absences that a student can take. Once they're over those absences, they're dropped. There are no excused absences either.

[Ester Maria]

Call me lenient, but I would allow the kid to miss a week's worth of classes in a heartbeat for something like travel / family reunion / etc., especially if it meant missing the beginning of the course (as opposed to the end of the course / pre-exam weeks). Sure, he will have to make up for what he missed, but frankly, it does not seem like a big deal - if he is generally a good and responsible kid, I would not have him miss out on skiing simply to satisfy the form of appearing in the initial classes.

 

Personally, I think the insistence on mandatory attendance is a nonsense (and yes, I was on both sides of the cathedra, so speaking also as somebody who taught) and I am truly sad to see that that is the direction in which the higher education seems to be moving (towards more coercion and prescription, not less). I would and have missed lessons in a heartbeat if I felt I could use my time more wisely and still be fully responsible for my success at the exam. I do not think it is a disrespect, either. The academic norms today are too high in the area of "presentation" (how things LOOK - whether you appeared in the class, handed in homework, wrote exactly the number of words you had to, etc.) and way too low in the area of content quality (what are the actual academic expectations of you in terms of content, exam, etc.).

 

Professors hold the lessons for HIM, it is not that he presents himself in the class for THEM. If he is a smart kid who can afford an absence now and then, for whatever reasons, and not expect to be catered to as a result of that (i.e. to make up for what he missed, know what he missed on exam, etc.), I say there is no ethical or academic problem whatsoever.

 

ETA: I also think he ought to email the professors, but with a vague notice, he does not owe them any explanations. Something along the lines of "I will not be able to attend the first week of classes for private / family reasons" is more than enough in my mind.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Ester Maria

[regentrude]

I would definitely contact the professors.

Just to let you know from my perspective as an instructor: it does make a bad first impression if a student skips the first week of class "for personal reasons". Short of an actual emergency, this sends the message that class is not as important as other stuff. Now, in most cases this would not have consequences - but in a borderline situation where the instructor's good will is what will tilt the scale one side or the other, being "this" student is not a good thing.

I agree with Ester that it would be desirable to just grade mastery and to not give any weight to homework, quizzes and class attendance. Unfortunately, the universities push towards including these things to "motivate" students to do their work. So, instructors may have to include points for attendance and dropping students for repeated absences - and these rules are in effect for all students.

 

ETA: The instructor may be willing to cut your son more slack than for a traditional student, because he is still in high school and not responsible for the scheduling decisions of his parents.

 

To the poster who recommended setting up an appointment with the instructor to "go over the missed material": I am very happy to meet with any student who had health emergencies or just needs some extra help - but a student who is missing class because he went skiing should first exhaust all other opportunities (textbook, classmates, tutoring center) before he asks me to reiterate the material I covered in class.

Edited December 29, 2011 by regentrude

[Ester Maria]

Just to let you know from my perspective as an instructor: it does make a bad first impression if a student skips the first week of class "for personal reasons". Short of an actual emergency, this sends the message that class is not as important as other stuff. Now, in most cases this would not have consequences - but in a borderline situation where the instructor's good will is what will tilt the scale one side or the other, being "this" student is not a good thing.

Are you speaking generally or your personal view of it? If generally, I would agree with you, but for me personally, I would not hold it against the student in any way, even if they did not let me know. I understand that people's priorities in life differ (really, why would that one class be more important than skiing, especially if he will have more than enough time to make up for it?) and that I do not have a monopoly on knowledge anyway, so if somebody can afford some absences, well, good for them and good for me and other students, because I will have one person less in the room, which means at least a bit more quality interaction with the rest. It is only if they cannot make up for things that I mind it - I mean, sure, you are free to not attend as you please, but you cannot monopolize next classes because you do not understand things you missed, you cannot expect me to reteach things for you. If the student is fine with that, as far as I am concerned, I can see him for the first time during an exam.

 

And then people call me strict. :D Formalities-wise, I am actually very, very lenient... it is the academic level and the content where I make few, if any, compromises. But formalities? Nah, not worth it - people learn in different ways, some profit from classes and some do not, ditto for homework, ultimately, I think the path should be the one of least coercion and least prescription.

 

So for me (though at the moment I do not teach), it does not translate to any sort of bad impression nor to any kind of consequences.

[regentrude]

OP: The following are general observations in response to EsterMaria's question and in no way directed towards YOUR son.

 

Are you speaking generally or your personal view of it?

 

 

Personal, and shared with many other instructors I know.

It is not a conscious thing, but I realize that it irritates me - probably because it suggests that the student thinks the first week of class is not important and what I do in class is not important.

 

I would suspect my gut reaction comes from the experience that the students who choose to miss the beginning of the semester typically are students who ultimately will end up failing the course or just barely scraping by - because their choice to miss class is just a reflection of their general priorities which rank academics not very high.

Last semester, four students missed the first day of class. One ended up dropping out with a low F halfway through the semester, one failed with an F, one got a D and will have to repeat the course, one had a genuine scheduling mishap and passed. Seeing scenarios like this play out year after year causes an unconscious bias.

 

so if somebody can afford some absences, well, good for them and good for me and other students,

 

Again, just my personal experience, derived from a few thousand students over the last ten years, which causes an unconscious reaction to absences: every.single.student who fails my class has absences. Almost all the A students have perfect, or close to perfect attendance. Most students can not afford to miss class and still do well.

So the "I can afford to miss class and show up only for exams" does not ever happen in my course. Other classes may be entirely different.

[Ester Maria]

Just out of curiosity - what was your experience as a student in your country? Was there also a direct and big correlation between success at the exam and "formalities" such as attendance? From my experience, there was no such correlation (though I do not have any data on it as attendances were hardly ever even taken back then). Some of the best students had very irregular attendances, some of the worst students were the ones that duly fulfilled all of the "formalities", and of course there were all kinds of students on both ends, and in between too.

 

I sometimes missed classes, then caught up, then missed again... but by the end of the year, I had all the bibliography read, all the content prepared, and did well on the exam, and I never, ever "bugged" professors to reteach me things I had missed because I knew those were my responsibility.

[regentrude]

Just out of curiosity - what was your experience as a student in your country? Was there also a direct and big correlation between success at the exam and "formalities" such as attendance? From my experience, there was no such correlation (though I do not have any data on it as attendances were hardly ever even taken back then). Some of the best students had very irregular attendances, some of the worst students were the ones that duly fulfilled all of the "formalities", and of course there were all kinds of students on both ends, and in between too.

 

There was zero credit for attendance, homework, quizzes etc and attendance was not taken by the instructor (except for some very obscure political classes). The only evaluation were one or two written exams, and yearly oral exams.

This said: I did attend every single class (with the exception of one extremely bad linear algebra course which made absolutely no sense; I was called out by the student committee and had to explain in front of them why I cut class .. oh the joys of a communist society).

I still have my notes from my classes and could use them as scripts to teach from (albeit I would only cover half the stuff in a semester since the majority of my students could not handle this much material.)

It was very hard to get books; you had to go to the library and work in the reading room because most textbooks could not be checked out. Going to class and taking good notes was the best way to succeed. (We still supplemented with books, of course). The professors did not follow one set text, but suggested a variety of texts for reading.

I can not recall any successful students who skipped class; only the ones who ended up failing did that.

Edited December 30, 2011 by regentrude

[Murphy101]

I think you should do what is most important for your family.

 

Me?

 

I can't comprehend paying that much money for a class and not being sure as possible to make every class, outside of sudden medical issues.

 

However, I'm also of the opinion that I am paying them for the class and tbh, there IS a lot in our lives more important than any class. I don't think you owe people you are paying for instruction a excuse for what you do or do not do, as long as you are okay with suffering the consequences and sucking it up on your own. (BC it is not the professors problem) That is not to say the class is not important. Rather that, no, it is not the most important thing in our lives.

 

Personally, I'd reschedule the classes rather than miss.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Martha

[kiana]

 

I would suspect my gut reaction comes from the experience that the students who choose to miss the beginning of the semester typically are students who ultimately will end up failing the course or just barely scraping by - because their choice to miss class is just a reflection of their general priorities which rank academics not very high.

Last semester, four students missed the first day of class. One ended up dropping out with a low F halfway through the semester, one failed with an F, one got a D and will have to repeat the course, one had a genuine scheduling mishap and passed. Seeing scenarios like this play out year after year causes an unconscious bias.

 

Well said.

 

Last time I had a larger class, there were 7 people who added after the first day of the class. Out of those 7, there was one C (a very smart person who skipped a lot of class and didn't study enough independently), there was one D, and there were five Fs. Four of the Fs didn't even show up to take the final.

 

After a while, the general attitude starts to be like "Yeah, suuure you'll get caught up."

 

In our department, we also give students plenty of rope to hang themselves, so although we would advise strongly against missing class for a week, it would be permitted.

[Teachin'Mine]

While it's not ideal for a new to college student to miss the first week, IMO it's not critical as long as the student is willing to do what's needed to catch up if need be. I'd get the required texts ASAP so he can read ahead and have him e-mail his professors to let them know he'll be missing the first week due to a family obligation. They will probably put any assignments online and he should be fine. I wouldn't change his schedule on account of this first week.

[Miss Marple]

BTW, congrats to your oldest on his upcoming marriage! Maybe we'll be calling you grandma soon!

 

Thanks, Brenda. DIL-to-be still has a couple years of pharmacy school to finish so I hope that the grandchildren wait a bit. I'm just getting used to the idea of being MIL. It was fun shopping for girl stuff this year for Christmas :001_smile: and I cannot imagine a better DIL - she's wonderful. I hope the other boys find such wonderful wives.

[Miss Marple]

Update: We filled out all the forms and were directed to a counselor (this is a new requirement). We gave the counselor the list of courses that would enable ds not to miss any classes. Unfortunately, they were all closed! So we told the counselor the problem and he said that we should enroll ds in the courses we wanted rather than those that would keep him from missing. His reasoning had to do with the deadline to add classes being the end of the week. He said that professors expect to have a few new students who have missed the first week of classes and they design their courses with that in mind.

 

So....we have a great schedule for spring that will cause ds to only miss one class. He will be able to go to his first classes on Monday and he will tell the teacher that he will be out on Wednesday. These are MW classes - he will miss the first Wednesday. Hopefully we won't have any negative fallout over this...we can always say the counselor told us to do it :)

[tomandlorih]

Update: We filled out all the forms and were directed to a counselor (this is a new requirement). We gave the counselor the list of courses that would enable ds not to miss any classes. Unfortunately, they were all closed! So we told the counselor the problem and he said that we should enroll ds in the courses we wanted rather than those that would keep him from missing. His reasoning had to do with the deadline to add classes being the end of the week. He said that professors expect to have a few new students who have missed the first week of classes and they design their courses with that in mind.

 

So....we have a great schedule for spring that will cause ds to only miss one class. He will be able to go to his first classes on Monday and he will tell the teacher that he will be out on Wednesday. These are MW classes - he will miss the first Wednesday. Hopefully we won't have any negative fallout over this...we can always say the counselor told us to do it :)

 

 

Glad he won't miss the trip! I missed the first week of classes, spring quarter, my second year of college and got better grades that quarter than the previous two!

[Teachin'Mine]

So glad he'll be skiing with his brothers! :)

[msk]

I know this thread is slightly out of date now, but it's been at the back of my mind. I teach a community college course, and the students' first assignments were due this week. A handful of people missed the first day of class, and NONE of them turned in their assignments. This is exactly the kind of pattern Regentrude and Kiana were talking about!

 

Of course, there's often an exception to the rule, and the OP's son will probably be that exception-- I would likely have done the same thing in his place, and then spent the rest of the course on my toes trying to prove I wasn't a slacker.

[Miss Marple]

I know this thread is slightly out of date now, but it's been at the back of my mind. I teach a community college course, and the students' first assignments were due this week. A handful of people missed the first day of class, and NONE of them turned in their assignments. This is exactly the kind of pattern Regentrude and Kiana were talking about!

 

Of course, there's often an exception to the rule, and the OP's son will probably be that exception-- I would likely have done the same thing in his place, and then spent the rest of the course on my toes trying to prove I wasn't a slacker.

 

This was indeed a learning experience for us. So we went ahead and enrolled in the brick/mortar computer and Spanish classes. He enrolled in Am. Govt. as an online class. Before leaving for the ski trip, we printed off the syllabus for each class. Only one class, microcomputers, had an assignment due during the time he would be gone. He took his books so that he could do all of his readings for the other classes (Spanish and Govt). The computer class requires submission of assignments online so he was able to submit his assignment Sunday evening at the cabin before the next Monday class (which was class day 3).

 

So, here's how things unfolded on his return back on Monday. The computer teacher was shocked that he had submitted the work because, "I was going to go over that today. You must already know a lot about computers!" (although the calendar on the syllabus showed it was due when he submitted it). The Spanish teacher had already told him that all he needed to do was read the chapter (done), and the government teacher sent an e-mail out to all the students late in the week that because of students adding his class that week, they were going to back up the syllabus by a week. Oh, and that next week he did the workbook assignment for Spanish (assigned in class) to be turned in the next class period. He was 1 of only 3 who actually did the work :confused:

 

Essentially ds went on the ski trip and came back ahead of the pack in all but Spanish - in which he was up to date :D

 

I know that this won't necessarily happen again or at other places, but we were grateful that he was able to do it all. And that caveat added to the syllabus "...subject to change..." is definitely a reality in some classes.:tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: He told me a couple of days ago that this university stuff is a lot easier than his courses at home :glare:

Edited January 23, 2012 by CynthiaOK

[Sebastian (a lady)]

This was indeed a learning experience for us. So we went ahead and enrolled in the brick/mortar computer and Spanish classes. He enrolled in Am. Govt. as an online class. Before leaving for the ski trip, we printed off the syllabus for each class. Only one class, microcomputers, had an assignment due during the time he would be gone. He took his books so that he could do all of his readings for the other classes (Spanish and Govt). The computer class requires submission of assignments online so he was able to submit his assignment Sunday evening at the cabin before the next Monday class (which was class day 3).

 

So, here's how things unfolded on his return back on Monday. The computer teacher was shocked that he had submitted the work because, "I was going to go over that today. You must already know a lot about computers!" (although the calendar on the syllabus showed it was due when he submitted it). The Spanish teacher had already told him that all he needed to do was read the chapter (done), and the government teacher sent an e-mail out to all the students late in the week that because of students adding his class that week, they were going to back up the syllabus by a week. Oh, and that next week he did the workbook assignment for Spanish (assigned in class) to be turned in the next class period. He was 1 of only 3 who actually did the work :confused:

 

Essentially ds went on the ski trip and came back ahead of the pack in all but Spanish - in which he was up to date :D

 

I know that this won't necessarily happen again or at other places, but we were grateful that he was able to do it all. And that caveat added to the syllabus "...subject to change..." is definitely a reality in some classes.:tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: He told me a couple of days ago that this university stuff is a lot easier than his courses at home :glare:

 

Good for him. There are so many classes I wish I could go back to and hit harder at the beginning. Both good and bad habits have a way of snowballing.

 

And way to go mom, for training him right.

[LucyStoner]

Edited- did not see update.

 

I am glad it worked out.