Monday randoms

[blondemoment123]

I bought a little posable skeleton and have it hanging behind my desk. I never know what position I'll find it in when it's left unattended.

Totally silly and unnecessary, but it makes me laugh.

[tacokick]

We had a good day at the beach yesterday! Pastries + reading in the sun on the towel my mom’s cousin got me in 1991 is my kind of summer day.

I have a package coming from England that the Royal Mail site says I have to sign for but USPS and the listing doesn’t specify. It’s out for delivery so I’m set up in the living room so I’ll hear the mail truck and can leap into action as needed. A real downgrade from yesterday lol

[bears]

Sept 16, 2024 9:12:15 GMT -5 blondemoment123 said:

I bought a little posable skeleton and have it hanging behind my desk. I never know what position I'll find it in when it's left unattended.

Totally silly and unnecessary, but it makes me laugh.

I love silly shit like this at work.

When I was pregnant with DS, my coworkers had a list of absurd suggested names on my white board which everyone got a kick out of.

MH was kicking all night long, so I ended up in the guest room. Which is fine, but if you exile me to the guest room, the least you could do is make the bed in the morning! (He did after I said something, but COME ON!)

[candreco]

Mondayest of Mondays here. It's the anniversary of a terrible day at my workplace, which was also a Monday. It's a day that just feels so heavy to me every year, and weirder this year that we've had enough turnover that a lot of people working here now weren't here that day and don't have that firsthand experience.

On top of that, DS was super congested this morning, but no fever, no pos covid test, and he always has a couple of rough allergy weeks in the fall and was outside a lot this weekend, so we sent him to school. I'm second guessing that decision, but at least it's an early release day for him so he's only there another couple of hours.

Ready to be done with today already.

[beerlover]

I dropped off our SUV that was hit a month ago at the county fair for repairs this morning. Driving a Nissan Altima rental for the week. It's nice! H had a 2007 Nissan Altima years ago that's transmission went bad very quickly though so I am anti-Nissan in general even though that was probably a one-off situation. It's fun to drive something else for the week.

I stopped at Dollar General this morning to buy a couple more fall decorations for my collection and ended up spending $30, whoops. I got a welcome mat, another kitchen mat, two different hanging decorations, and probably 4-5 tabletop decorations though for all that. They have decent stuff!

We don't have any soccer practice tonight so I'll be excited to just chill after work.

[livinitup]

We went to a very nice wedding on Saturday night including after-hours at the bar next to the hotel where guests were staying. We are friends with the groom’s side and had a good time.

I forgot all the drama 25-35 years old bring when they mix together in large groups. It’s not even the age, it’s the lack of life experience.

[circa1978]

My kid is a coast away from me, and I'm realizing that we did not set expectations for this trip. He left at 7 am yesterday, and they didn't get there until after midnight. I tried calling and he didn't pick up - we texted a chaperone to know he was there. (He texted his dad a few times from the bus and we can track his phone and credit card so generally knew where he was.)  I tried to call him this morning and he picked up and just said "no" and hung up. This is very much not like him. H thinks he was maybe on public transportation or a museum and couldnt't talk but I'm really struggling with this. He's only just turned 13. He finally texted and said he couldn't talk but is this normal?

ETA: I also straight up had a panic attack at 8 pm the night before that he doesn't have an ID. His school doesn't have them as far as I know (the middle school and high school are small enough that the teachers/admin know every kid) and when we travel together, he has his passport. I guess I can get him a state ID? I just was not ready for this.

[meanie]

H leaves today for a 2-week work trip. Of course, the kids have lots of activities scheduled that I will need to bring them to with my work laptop in tow. I'm exhausted already just thinking about it.

But I get the bed to myself and I WILL be asleep by 9 every night so, silver lining I guess.

[jane6672]

I’m sure Tolkien was proud of himself when he came up with the name, but he didn’t know the whole shebang was going to be turned into a tv series, and hearing “Celebrimbor” said out loud 500 times each episode of Rings of Power it just sounds more ridiculous every time.

[followyourarrow]

I signed the dog and I up for a 6 week agility class that we have to leave at 6:30 am for on Saturdays. I've clearly lost my damn mind.

My MBA class has a group text through an app. There has been major drama the last 24 hours and people are leaving the text, then coming back. It's all ridiculous, but I have to remember most of the other students are 20 years younger than I am.

[lust2hart]

circa1978, I think you can expect that his school has those kids busy 16 hours a day. I think it's reasonable to ask your son to text you at the end of each day, but I would not expect to talk to him.

[sent]

circa1978, it sounds like he is on a supervised school trip? I would trust that the chaperones know where he is at all times because if they didn't, they would have to face the wrath of the parents back home.

I haven't had my kid travel anywhere with a device she can use to contact me, but I agree that this seems like a good opportunity to teach our kids the old "make sure you call mom when you get there." Or for our kids' generation, "make sure you text mom when you get there." Next time, for sure.

[Roc A Bee]

Sept 16, 2024 9:40:50 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

My kid is a coast away from me, and I'm realizing that we did not set expectations for this trip. He left at 7 am yesterday

It’s not too late. I’d probably text and say he needs to call/text every evening. I’d let him tell you a time that works for him and their travel schedule.

I went to Europe in high school and only had a phone card. I think my dad got 2-3 calls in 10 days and definitely couldn’t track me. It will be ok.

[deadwing]

I'm bringing my car to the dealership this afternoon and bringing home a courtesy car, so I can leave my house again.

One of my best friends got engaged yesterday. I'm genuinely happy for her, her partner is lovely and we've been waiting for him to pop the question for a while.

[mpc]

Oh Monday. It is hard to get back into the swing of working this morning.

[lilypad1126]

Monday started with some drama at work when someone texted the WHOLE team something that was meant just for the boss (it wasn't me!). 🙃

I'm traveling for work tomorrow thru thursday with a colleague I don't normally travel with. I'm interested to see how this goes - she's traveled with some others on my team recently and they were not impressed with how things went, so I can hardly wait to hear her side of things.

[waverly]

circa1978 , DS leaves for this trip in a couple of weeks. I expect a couple of texts, but nothing else.  We've had a ton of meetings with the school and tour company and they keep them busy busy busy and will be exhausted when they get home. They are chaperoned, and they will be fine.

Our tour company makes up IDs for the kids and they wear them the entire trip. It's not official like a state ID, but it will work.

[glw]

Sept 16, 2024 9:40:50 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

He's only just turned 13. He finally texted and said he couldn't talk but is this normal?

(Not a parent, but) when I was 12 I went on a group trip to the UK for 3 weeks and didn't call home once, so I vote normal.

[Patsy Baloney]

My oldest picked up her viola about a year ago for the first time.

This weekend, she was invited to join a preparatory orchestra.

She has worked so hard and I’m so proud of her ❤️ when I told her the news, she lit up and said, “This is what I wanted!”

I can’t express the euphoria of seeing my kid get what she wants and works for.

[circa1978]

waverly , he's not with a tour company, just a teacher and an educational consultant. If there are nametags, that wasn't covered.

It's good to hear your younger teens are traveling like this. I don't have any IRL friends whose kids have done this. I did go to Europe when I was 18 with school but that was not only with a teacher but parent chaperones and a tour company. My mom and I had regular check ins with a phone card. IDK. He's never even spent the night at someone's house that wasn't family/very close family friend so this is a big deal for us.

[midwestmama]

I traveled home last Friday from my international work trip. All 3 flights were on time, and I got through passport control leaving Europe and coming into the US with only a couple of people in front of me in each line. For it being Friday the 13th, my expectations were impressively exceeded.

The weekend was going well until DS woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. Then he spiked a low-grade fever Sunday evening, and now this morning he said one of his ears hurts. So we might have an urgent care visit in our future this afternoon. DD came down with a cold late last week, so likely he caught it from her. It seems like every school year, one or both of them gets sick the 2nd or 3rd week of school.

[Patsy Baloney]

Circa - is he prone to “performance” in front of friends, too? I could totally see my jr. high self thinking I was super cool and could answer a call from my mom with, “No,” and impress my juvenile delinquent friends.

[circa1978]

Patsy Baloney, he can be a clown. These are pretty nerdy kids on a trip to DC so generally very respectful to adults but IDK. I guess I'll see what happens. The spring trip is to the Bahamas and they live and work on a sailboat for a week and that is a HARD FUCKING PASS from me right now. They do that one with the middle and high schoolers and if he wants to do that at 16 or 17 fine but I can't handle that at the moment lol.

[expectantsteelerfan]

DD got a concussion at school on Friday. We spent the afternoon/evening in the ER just to basically be told to have her rest and follow up with the concussion clinic, which was already closed when we were seen. I called when they opened this morning, waited on hold a bit then punted to the answering service, left a message, and still haven't been called back to schedule. I have so much to do today because my brother's family was visiting this weekend for a wedding, and they just left this morning, and I didn't get any of the stuff done on Friday I had meant to to begin with, and I know as soon as I do something like get in the car, the clinic will finally call back.
I'm also worried about how DD is doing in school. I emailed the office with the Dr. note from the ER about accommodations she should be allowed to have, but didn't hear back, and she was up and down sat. and Sun. Like she'd be fine for a while, and then she'd crash and need to lay down for an hour. I drove her to school this morning because she was feeling nauseous and didn't want to ride the bus.

[waverly]

circa1978 , DS is pretty independent. He's been going to sleep away camp since age 8/9.

I know one student who at the last minute refused to go. They had trip insurance, but did still have to pay a few hundred that wasn't covered and it was a whole debacle. So at least your kid is there!

I sense DS is at a bigger school, so there are many teachers that go, parent chaperones, the principal is there, plus the tour company. They fly, and they bring the manifest (list of kids) for the airline. It's a lot, but they've done it many years so through experience they know where to go, eat at, where to stay etc.

We've actually had more drama around the roommate selection because other moms decided to get involved and pick the rooms for the kids.  It was extremely controlling and I'm giving them some major side eye.  So DS is in a room with 1 friend and 2 acquaintences instead of his core group of friends.  I've been dealing with this controlling behavior from the moms for years, and I am just over it.   

[spindle92]

WE MADE IT!!

I am sitting across from my mom, in the rehab facility.


She is awake, helped the nurse put real clothes on her, is out of bed and sitting in a chair, eating her breakfast.

[circa1978]

waverly , yeah, I would have felt MUCH better if they had flown on this one but they drove, and if there was some sort of daily itinerary I could follow. It's a small group - 14 7th and 8th graders with a teacher and an educational consultant. The school follows the Montessori method even for teens, with the idea that parents being along messes with the dynamic, which is for the students to do the work and to bond and plan the trip themselves. They researched all the locations and were responsible for figuring out how to get there, what and when, and where to eat all that. As a result, I...more or less have no idea what's happening. We choose these schools because we want him to be independent, but I am an anxious person, so I struggle with it. He technically should have started these trips in 5th and 6th grade, but his previous school paused due to COVID so this is our first one.

ETA: My family was not a send your kids to camp family so the first time I was away from my mom, I was 18. I come by this honestly.

[ssmjlm]

The Perfect Couple is awful and I'm on episode 1.

Nicole Kidman's wig isn't working for me. I swear she looks like she's about to start screaming about wire hangers.

[jinkies]

circa1978, these kinds of trips keep kids very very busy (so that they don't have the time or energy to find trouble). I would take consolation in the location tracking if you want to keep up on what they are doing, and assume that no news is good news. He is going to have an amazing time! FWIW, my son's gf at the time could only find 2 nights to call him on a 10 day school sponsored trip one summer-- she really WANTED to talk to him more, but the kids were scheduled almost every minute, and in their limited downtime they had no privacy. It's really normal to not hear much from them.

Also, a recommendation for future trips: my oldest has gone to several camps and activities that do not allow electronics at all. The first time he went, I gave him a small notebook and asked him to jot down a few notes each night about what they did that day. I told him that it may seem like he would never forget, but as the week goes on he might not remember all the details, so it would be good to write it down. He has done that on almost every trip that he's gone on since. As a parent who receives no information during most of his summer camps, it's easier and more productive to ask him to walk through his notes with us afterward instead of just asking "so what did you do all week"?

[waverly]

circa1978, yeah I can see without all that additional information it would be more anxiety inducing for sure. It's great that they get those travel planning skills, but there is a lot that 13 year olds don't know. Hopefully the teachers are experienced to help guide them.