Crazy Ladies Club: my crazy blonde daughter just graduated from high school this weekend after a year of hating school. Freedom for me: I don't have to nag her to go to bed at night or nag to wake her in the morning ANYMORE. If she skips college classes & flunks, SHE pays the bill--not me!
Anyway, here is the Graduation Announcement she designed at the last moment...
Front of folded card---
And here is the inside of the announcement. Cute, huh?
Cute, and va-va-voom! Congrats to you both!
Congratulations Wanda! and to Amanda also!
Great idea and well executed. Happy sleeping late Mom and good luck with your future Amanda!
Hey, when a Thespian, former cheerleader, Iowa Math finalist & National Honor Society Student with a 3.8 average almost flunks out of her Senior year, it's pretty scary! I think she wanted to skip this year and go on to Summer Camp Counseling, moving to her own apartment & college. I'm just glad this part is over. :)
I'm done praying and busy Thanking her dedicated teachers & the Lord for His Patience with us all...
She didn't want a graduation party, so I'm going to have an ice cream cake made and deliver it to her "pre-camp" training with the other counselors early next week. She'll want to celebrate with all of them. And she heads to Mexico with her Spanish class the end of next week for 10 days. After that, we'll see her for a few hours each Saturday all summer. (Home long enough to grab snacks & do her wash. Empty nest ? YES!
congratulations to YOU and your lovely daughter, wanda.
annapet
Your cute baby has turned into a beautiful woman! Scarey how fast they grow up. Glad you made it through a rough year with her. Teenagers are like that. My sister always said she wished she could have buried hers at age 11 and dug them up at age 20. LOL
Susan
I think the rich people do it right. They send teenagers off to a boarding schools and vist them occasionally. Let someone else deal with all the drama.
you have done a great job, shes beautiful.. enjoy your freedom now....blessings. Twyla
Oh, Wanda ~ I sooo appreciate your sentiments above!
I love our daughters, but an empty nest will be nice. I've spent the last 20 years watching over them & now I get time for ME. Missouri Round Up--here I COME!
I just found this ... am trying to catch up 'cause the round up just kept me busy for awhile there... Very cute... the daughter shows signs of the organizational skills, flair, and style that her Mom has.... ;)
Congrats to both!!
She has finally figured out that she is going to Mexico tonight & packing. Kind of hectic & nasty. Could have been done earlier today or on the weekend. That's how she is--haphazard & last minute emergencies.
LOL... then I was mistaken about the organizational skills? Please tell her to be extremely careful on the trip... it seems so many girls are missing now... tell her do not talk to anyone while there!!! ;)) ... well, I know you can't do that... but do be careful, Amanda...
Well, one mystery was solved... the itinerary and other misssing important papers turned up in the sidepocket of her carry on. Gee, I wonder how that happened??? Pack in a hurry, regret all your vacation...
She's young & with a big group. She'll be fine.
Don't mind me, I am a worry wart... (it is a tough job, but someone's got to do it?)
I was just watching the news and they were talking about that teen (Natalee Holloway) from Alabama that went missing in Aruba... 100 classmates were there, and she is the one that went missing.... then I read this thread, so that is why I was cautioning... I don't mean anything wrong or to be intrusive.... :)
Starr, I'm paranoid too.
When our oldest daughter went to France, the teachers let the kids run free all day except for a tour to the Louvre and night activities. Scary & Liz ended up with a small tattoo on her hip. Expected it of her--she's my "push the limits" kid.
This tour is well chaperoned with 6 teachers & 35 kids. It scares me, but traveling is the best way to help kids grow and understand the world. I'll just pray that she likes Mexico and has a good, safe time.
I hope they have a wonderful time and I sure agree that traveling is a wonderful way for kids to learn. Two of my nephews are missionaries in Mexico. They love it there. I would think with that many chaperons for just 35 kids, they will be in great hands... I feel badly that I stuck my nose into an area that is absolutely none of my business, but I really did not mean anything wrong ... I tend to worry first and have fun later... sorry... I watch too much news sometimes... :))
I've been watching the missing Alabama girl and talked about it with Amanda. The chaperones are all Spanish/French teachers & will be watching closely. I want Amanda to have fun but be safe. Beeing a mom, I worry too. It's in my job description.
I hear ya on the job description, I have been doing an excellent job of worrying ever since my two children were born. (72' and 73') ... Guess I need to learn how t spell retirement... ;)
Momma is 89 years old and still worrying about all of us! being "Mom" is forever.
I guess so... I worry about everyone. I do an excellent job of it... ;)
Well Starr (and Wanda!), I'm only 28... seems like just yesterday I WAS Amanda... and I am NOT a mom yet either. But my very first thought when I saw that cute blonde girl and read she was going to Mexico was of that poor Alabama girl in Aruba. HOW SCARY! It's only been 10 short years but I remember my parents doing that same worry wart routine with me and how put off I was. God forbid they worried about me. What nerve! Ha! Give her some time Wanda, she will realize what a great mom she has and feel bad for all the grief and drama she caused. But hey, that's what teenagers do, right? LOL! Except I'm sort of not kidding....
Be safe Amanda and CONGRATS!!!!
Jamie
Jamie, thanks for the encouragement. it's such a difficult thing as a parent to balance our fear of the world and yet give our children the freedom they need to grow.
Our daughters have grown up in a neighborhood where if one kid falls & yells "MOM"--six Moms come running! many of are stay at home or worked only part time when they were little. The girls were active in church & school activities . I was a Girl Scout Leader with 2 troops going for 9 years plus running large unit for aweek of camp each summer. A trampoline and lots of toys plus fresh cookies & food drew kids here daily. Overnights with 10-14 girls was not uncommon. I've chaperoned too many over night trips to even count them all thru the past 18 years.
What I'm saying is that our 2 daughters have grown up in a very protected enviroment in a town that is safe, with 32 close relatives within the city limits. As teenagers, they teased & called our neighborhood "Pleasantville" after the movie. They know there are "unsafe" parts of town, they know the world can be difficult but have never really experienced it.
Our older daughter knows a bit since she's lived in apartments for the past few years--but she's in college & we pay more than 1/2 of her bills. Amanda has no idea...
Well, I trust the teachers on this trip & know them all well. They will watch our kids extra closely since the Aruba incident is so fresh. Amanda is a cautious child by nature, but I don't want her afraid of traveling.
I just want her to have a good time, see a different way of life & learn a bit. And come home safely. That's all.
Hi, Wanda--What a lovely and accomplished daughter, who must have a wonderful gene pool to draw from!
I am lurking on this thread and I am empathizing with you having a highschool senior! Not an easy period to 'mother' during, is it?! I am so relieved our daughter graduated this year and is 'officially' moving on to a more independent stage in her life! Cutting the umbillical cord at this stage is pretty challenging....
Our Julia will be living at her college so we will be 'empty nesters' for the most part too...(which brings up other issues!) And she is off to Augentina this month with two girlfriends so I am trying to be cool about it, but I am finding it difficult! It's pretty far away.....and no chaperones!
I will be sure to pray for both our daughters' safe returns. (And a mother's peace of mind.) And hope they remember all the 'guidance' we have provided thru the years!
Well, again, congratulations to you and to your daughter! t.
here's a pic from Julia's graduation...I have a lot of spare time (now) so I tried to make a Picasa collage of it...
I can hardly wait for the day! Last week I was visiting with a lady who's 85; she asked how old my son was now and I told her he was 17. She held my hand, patted it and said "This, too, will pass..."
tabasco--white dresses & tuxes? How elegant! Our kids all wear the robes & mortarboard hats. half of them are straight out of the package and unpressed. yuck.
Moby,
I am in the same boat as you are. Have a 17 year old boy who has one more year left of high school. Sigh! Some days I can't wait until he graduates and other days, I realize that he will be gone so soon.
I also have a 21 year old who is at college, out of state. I would take him back this instant. Each kid is a challenge in their own ways.
But some ways, I am looking forward to being an "empty nester" but other ways, it was be very sad.
When you spend most of your adult life raising kids, it is very hard to just "let them go."
But worry, yes, that is one thing I am very, very good at. My parents are in their 80's and they still worry about me, when I worry about them and their health now. LOL.
Life is a continuous cycle.
Carol
You mean there is "life after kids"? YES! Of course, our older daughter of almost 21 spent yesterday ostensibly washing clothes here and surfing on the web. Can't get rid of 'em even when they WANT to leave. LOL
Yes, these kids...ya gotta luv'em...they've given me a lot of wisdom, taught me patience, made us proud, and have given me a lot of grey hair and wrinkles...(semi-adult) kids certainly add lots of complex dimensions to our lives...and I wouldn't have it any other way. Our oldest daughter (24) moved to San Francisco and is getting along just fine (without me!) and our son (22) is in Los Angeles now doing just fine, too...but we miss them...
As for the formal graduation 'garb', it made for beautiful pictures and the tails made it a day the boys won't forget for sure. It was ninty degrees and they were whining a lot...all part of the growing up process, I guess. The girls loved their pretty dresses, though. (So did the mothers!) Probably the last time we will see them prettied up the way we parents like it! I think the boys' 'tails' are part of the academic tradition for young men (copied from the English)...
Praise God she made it
and your both going " I am free at last "
i would not want to be young and starting out in these times , flip side more opportunity if you quick and smart . and she is like her mother so she will go far .
Well at least across town if your lucky . Mine just go out and multiply and come back and back ,
who me bitter ? and back ?
Lock the doors????
Move???
Tazzy move all those irises? Scary thought. Moby, if we came down to help her, maybe a few would disappear and magically reappear in OUR yards?
I was thinking Winnebago on top of hill . see them coming jump in and take off in opposite direction ? LOL
Tazzy--what a great soluion. Roll down the hill quietly so they don't hear the motor and catch you?
We changed the keys when the older one left. She has to CALL before she comes if she wants in. It was the best way to remind her who REALLY owned the house and it wasn't the teens...
