Lady Florida. Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I posted a thread yesterday about my baby turning eighteen. He and I were talking tonight about things that will be different, and one of the things we discussed was that he'll sign his own waivers now for various activities. Then the conversation went like this: Ds: Oh, I need to go vote too, don't I? Me: Well not yet. There's no actual election yet and you don't just 'go vote'. Ds: But I saw something on the news about who's in the lead and stuff. Me (to myself): Sigh. I guess we'll have to revisit American Government and Civics this final year. Oh dear. :svengo: 29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Well, I can't really blame him. The Campaign Trail is so obnoxiously constant, it could easily lead one to believe that *The* election is tomorrow. And they did have the Iowa state fair, with the corn voting things...maybe he heard some of those news reports. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Well, I can't really blame him. The Campaign Trail is so obnoxiously constant, it could easily lead one to believe that *The* election is tomorrow. And they did have the Iowa state fair, with the corn voting things...maybe he heard some of those news reports. Yeah, I did tell him that it goes on for a ridiculous length of time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 That is awesome. My most recent homeschool fail is that my then-10 yo misspelled my name. At least it wasn't his own, but there's nothing like finding a gaping hole in your child's education and knowing it is all your fault. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelbe5 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Glad he WANTS to vote. For the last couple of elections here I had to have the "While you live in MY home you WILL vote!" talk with my eldest. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Glad he WANTS to vote. For the last couple of elections here I had to have the "While you live in MY home you WILL vote!" talk with my eldest. I'm proud of him for it. When he got his license he chose to preregister to vote. His voter ID card should come in the mail in a week or so. When he was little dh or I (sometimes both when we were able to go together) always took him with us when we voted. We always talked about why we vote even in small, local elections. The past few elections we voted by mail, but we discussed that too. It might or might not have had any effect on him, so we can't really take credit. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 My most recent homeschool fail is that my then-10 yo misspelled my name. At least it wasn't his own My 11 year old misspelled his own name on a school paper this week :huh: . 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I remember when my son publicly asked me how to spell his last name. I was mortified. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 My younger son is convinced, adamant even that our five letter last name is spelled with four letters. My older son didn't realize that the Civil War and the core of the Civil Rights movement were separated by more than 80 years. The word Civil is attached to both, so it's the same thing, right? At one point he may or may not have insisted that the military was a branch of the government akin to the actual three branches. Oh my word. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Ds, a new high school freshman, had to read and respond to a short passage about "Ulysses" who was in a war and then had many adventures trying to return home to Ithaka. Not only did we do 2 cycles through ancients, we\he read 2 abridgements of the Odyssey, and listened to a recording of the original. And I know I have mentioned that Ulysses is another name for Odysseus. Yet, he did not remember who this Ulysses person was and what he did. Sigh. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 What about local elections/ballot questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 We all have gaps. That is what I tell myself. My dd has the most difficult time remembering the pledge of allegiance. I don't know why. I have to review it with her every few years. It is one of those things you should know even if you don't go around pledging every flag you see. My ds likes to tell me how he will be able to vote in the next presidential election. He is looking forward to getting his voting rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I'm proud of him for it. When he got his license he chose to preregister to vote. His voter ID card should come in the mail in a week or so. When he was little ds or I (sometimes both when we were able to go together) always took him with us when we voted. We always talked about why we vote even in small, local elections. The past few elections we voted by mail, but we discussed that too. It might or might not have had any effect on him, so we can't really take credit. It probably did have *some* effect. I remember going with my mom to vote when I was 12 or so and she selected the party and I got to pick the person to vote for. Very different system than in the US, but there were like 15+ parties on the ballot, each with a list of names, and the party would send a number of people to be in the government based on the percentage of votes the party received... usually the top however many, but if someone further down the list got a lot of votes they might send that person instead of one of the ones higher on their list - not sure if I'm explaining myself well. E.g. for one of the smaller parties the party might list only 5 people or so because they're not even sure they're going to get any seats, and if they do get enough votes for two seats, typically the top two people on their list would get those seats, but if the person listed third got a lot more votes than the person listed second, they might send person one and three instead of one and two. Any votes for any person on the party's list count for the party though, so my vote (which was for someone with an interesting name two-thirds or so down the list) was counted for the party my mom wanted to vote for, but the person I voted for didn't get a seat (which was unsurprising since she was a ways down the list). I've voted only once in my adult life, and that was for the water elections (a government official is elected to be in charge of stuff related to ground water, dikes, etc). That was the only election that happened while I was living in NL as an adult. Living in the US I could vote by mail, but since I'm not keeping track of Dutch politics I don't think it'd be quite fair for me to get involved (I feel that if you're going to vote, you should do some research before voting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 My younger son is convinced, adamant even that our five letter last name is spelled with four letters. At one point he may or may not have insisted that the military was a branch of the government akin to the actual three branches. Oh my word. He may be on to something (and don't forget corporations). :leaving: B went through a little phase where he'd throw an extra 'i' into our last name, so it started with "Wii". I blame a certain Nintendo product, as well as an overabundance of 'i's in his name (kinda like Lynyrd Skynyrd, but with 'i's, because 'y's are so passé). ETA: In college government class I learned that the bureaucracy is the unofficial 4th branch of the US govt, btw. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I guess I don't feel so bad that my youngest was miffed that he didn't know what Tic Tacs were when he started ps. It was a big thing to him. :lol: Middle son is starting his senior year of college and finally had to write his first check. He was asking us for directions. I wonder how long that knowledge will be necessary. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Ds: But I saw something on the news about who's in the lead and stuff. Me (to myself): Sigh. I guess we'll have to revisit American Government and Civics this final year. Oh dear. :svengo: I'd let him live in his happy bubble until January. Most of the cray cray will have passed by then and they'll be more focused on issues and Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina polling. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Middle son is starting his senior year of college and finally had to write his first check. He was asking us for directions. I wonder how long that knowledge will be necessary. I seem to be getting by fine without that knowledge (and I'm 31). I think I've maybe written a check once or twice, but I don't recall, nor do I currently have a checkbook (I think I got some free checks with my student bank acct a decade ago). Between cash, debit card, online bill pay, and money order you really can pay for just about just about anything you'd want to pay for, and the only reason I'm mentioning money orders is to pay for copies of birth certificates for the kids that I'm not driving to TX for to pay in person. ETA: I saw a blog post by a 25yo that said he needed to look up what to put on an envelope for snail mail. At least I possess that knowledge! #feelingsoeducated 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 ETA: I saw a blog post by a 25yo that said he needed to look up what to put on an envelope for snail mail. At least I possess that knowledge! #feelingsoeducated My daughter worked in the post office at her college for work study. She frequently had to coach students on where to put the address, the stamp, and their return address. Regards, Kareni 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 My daughter worked in the post office at her college for work study. She frequently had to coach students on where to put the address, the stamp, and their return address. Regards, Kareni I witnessed a similar situation just the other day at our local post office. A young lady was confused because she had a bill that she had to mail. She had the stamp on it but the slot on the wall where you put the mail said "letters". She stood in line to talk to a counter-worker because she was mailing a "bill" not a "letter". It made me smile but I realized that it would be easy to get confused since so few have that need any more. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 My 11 year old misspelled his own name on a school paper this week :huh: . So did my 14 year old. His teacher corrected it. Also, when I told him to sign his passport (and stressed that sign means in cursive), he printed it. And only used his first name, not his last. :svengo: :leaving: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 My son turns 18 soon. I might be in a bit of denial, although he did mail in his voter registration recently. It seems like they were just 10. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Don't forget that by law 18yo males in the US have to register for the Selective Service. I have that written on my to-do list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 You may have already taken care of this, but don't forget that, by law, 18yo males in the US have to register for the Selective Service. They offered pre-registration when he got his license a few months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Well, he should vote this year. Even though it's not a Presidential election, there are other people to vote for, aren't they? Congresscritters and whatnot. Re: letters, I'll confess - every time I have to fill out a check I panic and can't remember which line is for the money and which line is for the person I'm paying. When I was a kid, grown-ups did checks, and then as an adult nearly everything is done with the card! So did my 14 year old. His teacher corrected it. Also, when I told him to sign his passport (and stressed that sign means in cursive), he printed it. And only used his first name, not his last. :svengo: :leaving: That's not actually true. Sign means to make your mark, the identifying mark you always make. So you can print your name, you can sign with an x, you can make a doodle, you can use a special stamp. There is no law that requires you to make a cursive-style mark. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Well, he should vote this year. Even though it's not a Presidential election, there are other people to vote for, aren't they? Congresscritters and whatnot. No, nothing in 2015. At least not here. The next election will be the presidential primary, at which time there will also be some local issues on the ballot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 So did my 14 year old. His teacher corrected it. Also, when I told him to sign his passport (and stressed that sign means in cursive), he printed it. And only used his first name, not his last. :svengo: :leaving: Passport signatures don't have to be in cursive. Actually, I don't think signatures ever have to be in cursive, a "mark" will suffice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Passport signatures don't have to be in cursive. Actually, I don't think signatures ever have to be in cursive, a "mark" will suffice. Yes, you are 100 percent correct. But I asked him to sign in cursive (see backstory below). Hence it was a homeschool fail in my book because he knows what cursive is. I should have been more clear in my post. Backstory: We were standing at the passport office in Miami getting same day passports for our trip in five days. The hag behind the counter didn't want to give my son a passport because she claimed we could not prove we were his parents because he was adopted (um, what?? our names on his birth certificate, adoption papers signed by a judge, and a certificate of citizenship signed by the President of the United States doesn't prove that? really?) and after one hour of grilling us and insisting we were not his "real" parents (in front of said child) she finally relented. When presented with a passport several hours later she was screaming at him (a 13 year old at the time) that he "had" to sign in cursive. I was not about to argue with her at that point. I just wanted the stinking passport so we could get on with our lives and at that point would have signed in blood if it meant we would actually get the passport. So I told him he "had" to sign in cursive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 What an awful person! I hope, when it was all done, you registered a formal complaint with her boss. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I have that written on my to-do list. My son did it online. It was easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Yes, you are 100 percent correct. But I asked him to sign in cursive (see backstory below). Hence it was a homeschool fail in my book because he knows what cursive is. I should have been more clear in my post. Backstory: We were standing at the passport office in Miami getting same day passports for our trip in five days. The hag behind the counter didn't want to give my son a passport because she claimed we could not prove we were his parents because he was adopted (um, what?? our names on his birth certificate, adoption papers signed by a judge, and a certificate of citizenship signed by the President of the United States doesn't prove that? really?) and after one hour of grilling us and insisting we were not his "real" parents (in front of said child) she finally relented. When presented with a passport several hours later she was screaming at him (a 13 year old at the time) that he "had" to sign in cursive. I was not about to argue with her at that point. I just wanted the stinking passport so we could get on with our lives and at that point would have signed in blood if it meant we would actually get the passport. So I told him he "had" to sign in cursive. What a rotten human being. I hope you reported her. You might save another person some pain. Speaking as an adoptive parent here. :) Aside from that, I once had a terrible experience at a DMV. My roommate was with me, and unbeknownst to me she reported the lady. It turned out that the woman in line behind us had reported it as well. A year later, I got a phone call about the same lady. They had had so many complaints, they were going to fire her. Apparently they listened to all the reports, and once there were enough, they took action. Somehow, knowing that she was verbally abusive to others made me feel less singled out. It helped. It also helped to know that someone really heard the reports, and that no one else would go through what I had. It wasn't that I wanted her to be fired, I just wanted to know that other people could feel safe going into a public office, rather than assaulted. A tangent, I know... But your story feels similar. I do hope you'll report it. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 My 11 year old misspelled his own name on a school paper this week :huh: . To be fair, I have been known to accidentally spell my first name wrong. What can I say, my Mom was wrong when she added that extra "a" to Meagan. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 It takes awhile for it all to gel together. There are "sentences that I had to memorize to get an A" and "things which I know to be true about the external world" and for some reason, these are stored separately. Even weirder... some things which people know to be true and use in daily life, they cannot explain (such as complex multiplication and division used by uneducated street vendors, or social skills that many people have). Human programming fail. I have to wonder how these two things--ability to articulate and explain a fact, and the operationalization of a fact--are so separate for people in so many ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I seem to be getting by fine without that knowledge (and I'm 31). I think I've maybe written a check once or twice, but I don't recall, nor do I currently have a checkbook (I think I got some free checks with my student bank acct a decade ago). Between cash, debit card, online bill pay, and money order you really can pay for just about just about anything you'd want to pay for, and the only reason I'm mentioning money orders is to pay for copies of birth certificates for the kids that I'm not driving to TX for to pay in person. ETA: I saw a blog post by a 25yo that said he needed to look up what to put on an envelope for snail mail. At least I possess that knowledge! #feelingsoeducated I COULD pay for my kids' lunches with online bill pay. But there is a $2.95 per payment charge to do so. So I write checks. I also use checks for: T-shirts through the school Scholastic Book Fair (I do my book orders online) 2nd mortgage payment So I can walk into the bank and pay it Our lawn mowers Birthday and Christmas money for various loved ones Babysitting Repaying my sister when she pays for some stuff at the store and we don't want to make a separate stop at the bank to get cash, then ANOTHER stop to break a $20 into smaller bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I COULD pay for my kids' lunches with online bill pay. But there is a $2.95 per payment charge to do so. So I write checks. Yes, I hated that one. I'd put the max amount into it, which sadly was only like $120 at a time (like 3 calendar months of food?). I would've done $300 or so at once if they'd have let me. I *could* also have walked into the school and paid in cash, or sent cash with my kid. Or fed my kid breakfast at home and sent lunch to school with him. Oh well. The cost of convenience. Last time I considered getting a check book the bank wanted to charge me $10, so I said "no thanks". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I don't think my 23yo uses checks at all. I taught him cursive but he forgot because he never used the ugly style that I thought would be easier to learn. The election before my teens were old enough to vote, I handed them my ballot, gave them enough internet time for research, and said, "Tell me who you think I should vote for and why." One of my kids changed his/her name from something like "Giosephina" to something like "Jo" when s/he was 12 because it was less trouble than learning how to spell it right. None of my adult kids were "done" when they were 18. My ex and I are still waiting for our 26 year old to grow up, but we're not worried about her any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Yes, I hated that one. I'd put the max amount into it, which sadly was only like $120 at a time (like 3 calendar months of food?). I would've done $300 or so at once if they'd have let me. I *could* also have walked into the school and paid in cash, or sent cash with my kid. Or fed my kid breakfast at home and sent lunch to school with him. Oh well. The cost of convenience. Last time I considered getting a check book the bank wanted to charge me $10, so I said "no thanks". Wow. Our checks don't cost anything (at least, not at the rate I use them) Though. I might pay $10 for the convenience. I sent cash once and it disappeared... for like 3 weeks. So I learned and only send checks now. Though I probably could hand deliver cash. hadn't thought of that option. My kids have free breakfast at school. So we feed them breakfast at home then they often eat at school with their friends as well. I'm not up in arms about it since it is free. They bring lunch from home most days. One day per week we budget to eat lunch at school. It's a break for me having to put together a lunch. Plus more variety for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 That is awesome. My most recent homeschool fail is that my then-10 yo misspelled my name. At least it wasn't his own, but there's nothing like finding a gaping hole in your child's education and knowing it is all your fault. Frequent conversation in my house: Me- You spelled your middle name wrong. There is an e on the end. DD 14 - There is? You never told me that. Me- Yes, I have. I've been telling you ever since you were 5. DD 14- Oh, whatever. Me - :banghead: Kelly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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