Tag Archives: college

December 27, 2009 · 11:04 pm

Career Choices

The scene:

Driving to a family gathering. Jana is cranky.

Me: What’s the problem, why so cranky?

Jana: Because everyone will ask about college, my major, my trip abroad and what I want to do with my life.

Gary: Just tell them you want to be a stripper.

Got to hand it to him, that is pretty damn good advice. Kind of nips that conversation in the bud.

Sure enough, someone asked her that question right off the bat. And to tell you the truth, it worked! Although he did ask why you needed to go to college for 4 years to do that.

Some people have no sense of humor.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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September 21, 2009 · 10:06 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Hit Send

send-button

We are here. Where, you ask?

Here!

On the other side of ‘send’.

And with that simple click of the mouse, Danny – the baby – has submitted his first college app.

Too melodramatic, you say. Hmmm, well I say you are all too vocal tonight. How do you like that?

Tonight, as we were watching promos for ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ – the movie adaptation of one of our favorite books from his childhood – that crazy app went soaring through the interwebs and officially turned my little boy into a college applicant.

‘It roared its terrible roar and gnashed its terrible teeth’ and transformed ‘that little boy who made mischief of one kind…

and another…’

into a man(ish)-type person.

Never in the history of ‘send’ has such a small gesture meant so much. (ok, I agree I AM leaning heavy on the melodrama pedal here). But there is something both exciting and petrifying about the idea of this process beginning.

First kid launched? Of course that was monumental. Second kid off? That means all sorts of things. Yes, even more than looking for that special cat food parmesan recipe because we are paying for two kids at the same time.

It means sad things like the end of an era. But it means exciting things too. Like having actually survived custodial child-rearing (with minimal scars). And not having to travel during school vacations.

So here’s to ‘send’. May it bring to my boy all he dreams of and send him where his new life will begin.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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August 28, 2009 · 4:53 pm

Levinson University?

Levinson-University

For those who don’t know me personally, Levinson is my married name. Because Gary and his family don’t want to be associated with my antics For professional reasons, I use my maiden name.

We received this postcard in the mail yesterday. Great promo. I am sure we will have to buy a few of these items as gifts.

But more importantly, this could solve all our problems surrounding sending a second child to college. Levinson University! This is brilliant. Not only could our kids go for free (Jana, you won’t mind transferring, will you?) we can take in other students to make money.

Let’s see, what courses could we teach?

Any suggestions?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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August 24, 2009 · 8:22 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Circling the Drain

down-the-drain

This is cruel as the previous mentioned 7 girlfriends sending off 7 daughters (and a son) are in full swing of departure this week. But I could not resist this post because, well because after all it is Tuesday and quite frankly I need a good cry.

I would like to start this off with a quote that makes more sense every year. A dear friend told me when her first child went off to college that ‘It was good for them’. I did not quite get it until I experienced it myself. But let’s face it folks, they are in college and that is a blast and we send them off and have to stay home and figure out how to pay for it and that is not. Period.

My daughter comes and goes and has for the past two years. She is never home for more than a few weeks at a time. We are used to her ebb and flow, her presence and absence. We are thrilled when she is here, sad when she leaves and back to our routine within a few days of her departure.

Bullshit.

I mean the routine gets easier but it is mostly because we have trained ourselves not to dwell on it. This is the mother of all parental behavior modification techniques. We know we need to let go and we do (on the outside anyway). Her growth outweighs our desire to keep her close by because her very absence and experiences out in the world are what make her so much more of what she is; a remarkably independent, capable, amazing young woman, who happens to have a great sense of humor and fabulous hair. (ok, so I am partial because she is my kid. This is my blog, I can brag if I want to).

So today when my friend told me that she was ‘circling the drain here’ I could not help but laugh. Until I got choked up and started to cry. For her. I knew exactly what she meant. We are thrilled and excited for them but surely in the first few weeks of their freshman year we are also scared to death. Way more than they are.

Here it is in a nutshell. We are their mothers (and fathers). We spend all these years raising them to be what they have become. But there is that defining moment, the one where the universe as we know it shifts and things are never truly the same. Things are not worse, on the contrary they are actually better for this is the payoff for all that hard work.

But once a year, when the universe shifts yet again, we have that recurring moment where we feel like we are going down the drain.

Don’t worry my dear parents of freshman, let me be your emotional plumber. I will fish you all out and dry you off and make sure there is a good stiff drink on the other side. I love each and every one of you – and your daughters (and one son), and I am so very proud to have you all in my life.

Tissues, please!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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August 23, 2009 · 8:33 pm

College Mom Buys Crack in Madison Alley

alley

Okay, this is the last of the college move-in trilogy of posts. Here is a little anecdote that will amuse you. It is vintage Amy.

I went down to the recycling room of Jana’s apartment building to dump boxes. As I heard the door click shut I realized that I needed a keycard to get out. Of course I did not have my cell phone.

This was a classic Amy situation. All I could think of was this was like an I Love Lucy episode. This was in the back of the building and all the banging in the world would never get me out of there.

Before I had a chance to panic I found an unlocked exterior door that led into an alley. This would have been fine if I did not come out just as friends were standing across the street calling Jana’s cell.

“Hey, what were you doing in that alley?”, they asked.

“Um, buying crack?”, I answered.

I think they thought that was funny.

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August 22, 2009 · 11:56 pm

College Move-in, Big Box Style

big-box-logos

This post is dedicated to all you fellow parents out there partaking in the annual ritual of moving your offspring into the countless institutions of higher learning across this great land.

You know who you are. All of you flocking to the big box stores, veteran patrons of the Bed Bath and Beyond retail brainstorm: ‘pack and hold’. Consumers of everything that is not nailed down in Target’s ‘College ’09’ aisle. Walmart, Costco and Best Buy fans. If you are anything like me, around hour 36 you were resembling some sort of parental Night of the Living Dead character wandering around the aisles insisting on ridiculous items like shoe organizers and storage bins ad nauseam; the last shred of your sanity gone out the window with your third Starbucks of the day.

Seriously folks, we have surely lost our minds, have we not?

And if I were to guess correctly, most of you went off to college with some big ass ole Bose 901 speakers, a few cinder blocks and wood boards, a couple of orange and milk crates and an album collection that took up three quarters of your parents’ car.

There were no fashionable color coordinated canvas storage bins or over the door hooks, no shower caddies or must have bed in a bag sets. You had some clothes, a few towels, the old linens from your parents’ house an indian tapestry bed spread from the headshop and you were good to go.

Show of hands please, how many of  you had the coordinated dust ruffle for your bed? Yeh, that’s what I thought. Come to think of it, we did not even have bed frames, the fashion of the times was box spring and mattress on the floor. Anybody out there feeling like their college years were somehow not fulfilled because they did not own the ShamWow, or its pathetic copycat, the ShamEase (whose name is not nearly as cool).

So what has made us fall into this trap? Oh right, because we created it. We are the As Seen on TV generation of parents and damn it our kids’ will be organized and color coordinated even if it makes us broke!

Hey, I am not pointing fingers. I am as guilty as they come. You might recognize me as the woman who was wondering up State Street in Madison, WI muttering about the third curtain rod I bought that was finally the right size while searching for a hardware store to buy a rubber mallet.

Don’t ask!

(Stay tuned tomorrow for the funny stories)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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August 19, 2009 · 9:36 pm

College Move In: Year Three

University-of-Wisconsin-Madison

Year one was the year of the space bags. I was simply out of my mind. Seriously, the dog was nervous that she would find herself in one of these bags with the air sucked out of it with a vacuum. It was the year of the famous 10 lb. dorm room in 5 lbs. of luggage.

Year two was the sorority house move in. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 degrees, of course no air conditioning, 3 flights of steps, a lost printer and the embarrassing UPS story about the lost 21 lb. box of shoes.

I swore I was done with move in and move out, but when your kid is only home for 3 days in August you sacrifice some sleep and break every nail on both hands just to squeeze out a little more time with her.

This year lacks drama big time. Home from camp on Sunday, upack, 13 loads of laundry, and re-pack. This kid is amazing, in 45 minutes she packed for a whole semester. It took me longer to pack for the 2 days I would be gone. In my defense there was a weather check and I had to make adjustments.

So off I go to Madtown, one of my favorite places. With my daughter, one of my favorite peops.

I am sure there will be a few good blog posts out of this one.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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June 22, 2009 · 11:29 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – This is not a dress rehearsal…

I have decided to make this an annual post at graduation time, until next year when I will have another graduate to write about. I wrote this before I was a blogger. It was an email I sent to those who had been parenting with me since preschool. It was written on the morning of my daughter’s HS graduation. Funny how I have become the mom in the last paragraph. Perfect timing as she is leaving tomorrow for the summer after just a few short weeks at home.

This one is for all my girls (and guys) who are launching their girls (and a guy) this year: to Jo (& Mo), Karen (& Todd), Joyce (& David), Maddee (& Alan), Susan (& Neil), Michelle (& Daryl), Lisa (& Rob), and Nancy (& Uncle Neal). Grab your tissues and your hats, this one is not for the faint of heart!

This is not a dress rehearsal…

or watch the temp when you decide to iron the graduation gown.

6AM on the day that my first child graduates high school.

how can this be, she was just a curly-headed little whirling dervish whose door i had to hold shut as she was throwing her ever famous brand of temper tantrums. that same door with the loose latch from all the times she slammed it for effect when she stormed into her room in her tweens. you know the one, who at five years old marched into nuerosurgery to ‘get her neck fixed’ and never once asked ‘why me?’.

who was that radiant young woman that walked out of the house wednesday morning with her car packed and her keys in hand saying, “don’t worry mom, i have the garmin GPS, i don’t need a map!”

well i think, perhaps, i need a map today. someone tell me how to navigate this road. we surely have had enough practice. we graduate them ad nauseum – from the 4’s, kindergarten, 5th grade, 8th grade – the most graduated generation of all times. you would think we would get used to it. but this year’s cap does not have flourescent orange and green finger paint decorating it. this kid has actually grown up! how dare she. does she not know that my bravado this year has all been an act. of course i could not be ready for her to be the competant, independent, grab-the-world-by-the-balls person i worked so hard to raise. does she not know i was only kidding!! wisconsin?!! that is halfway across the country!

i digress – back to the gown and the iron. being a working mom i always look for ways to overcompensate and make sure that i am doing the mom thing as well as the work thing. so, of course, they both are never really quite up to the standard i expect. somewhere in the 4-page green directions for graduation (you know the one, where the assistant principal gives them a 10 bullet list for how to enjoy graduation and prom, 9 of which stress not drinking or doing drugs) there was mention of taking the gown out of the bag and ironing it. at midnight i was the mom who would just hang it up. at 6AM i decided no daughter of mine will graduate with a wrinkled gown!

so why is it, exactly, that they make these things out of the same material as basketball shimmer shorts?!

no, you will not be able to notice my daughter by the big brown iron mark on the back of her white gown. but if you look close, you may notice that on the front left shoulder the fabric is, how should i put it, a tad ‘melted’.

as jana would say, ‘it’s FINE’. as my parents would say, i did it ‘the Amy way’.

a huge thank you to the jana who has become one of my favorite people on earth to spend time with. surely the one that knows me the best, and loves me anyway. sometimes it seems that she is raising me. i think her humor and radiant smile will get me through this one. levity has always been her strong point.

love and congrats to all of you who have been in the parenting trenches with me the past 18 years. for some of you it is your first, others, your last. it is never easy to watch them go. but then again, we could all use a rest. and as my mommy mentors tell me, they come home, stay out all night, sleep late and bring lots of laundry.

let the games begin!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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March 1, 2009 · 9:35 pm

UW Chi O Toddler Dance 2.0

For those who do not know the origin of the ever famous international dance craze known as ‘The Toddler Dance’, please take a little hop over to this post and see where it all started.

Since this a true favorite of my daughter’s, she decided to bring it to the girls of the Chi Omega sorority at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This past weekend the university took part in its first ever dance marathon to benefit UW American Family Children’s Hospital. Miss Jana personally raised $772, her sorority raised $6,000 ($4,000 over their goal) and UW raised a total of $56,880.94.  Although this does not even compare to the millions of dollars raised at Penn State or Indiana, their total is still very impressive. They were able to raise more money in their first year of Dance Marathon than any other Big 10 schools raised in their first year, exceeding them by at least $20,000. For those inclined I believe donations are still open.

At the last hour of this all-night event, without any sleep and having not sat down for the entire danceathon, this group of Jana’s sorority sisters decided to end their stint with a rousing rendition of the Toddler Dance. Here’s a shout out to my dear friend @flipgonzo , the funniest clown on twitter, who named this…

The Toddler Dance 2.0.

Thanks girls. You did our family proud!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 14, 2009 · 6:00 pm

Someone at Penn State Loves Me

penn_state

Ah, college touring. What parent does not love the idea of a few days of quality time alone with their kid? The kid, not so much. But this guy is a good sport. Like his sister before him, he humors my crazy ass with my binders, schedules and printed out directions and sits back for the ride trying his best to soak in the experience.

Being that this is the second time around I have found the best defense for boredom is to keep them laughing and to point out the absurd whenever possible.

This crazy blue haired beauty was in the window of one of the best college town shops I have seen in a long time, Peoples Nation, State College, PA. (you can look forward to many a blog post surrounding pictures I took in here). I particularly like the choice of shirt on this maniac-quin. This image is what freshman parents’ nightmares are made from.

I will be posting about the full college  touring experience over at 50-something mom blog soon. I will let you know when that is up.

For know, i could cry will be featuring the best of what makes my family laugh. Welcome to our world.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

Next stop, Maryland.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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