From one hovering mom to another - I have a freshman this year too, and can appreciate your stories! We don't start school until Aug 25, but I will be the one constantly calling to find out info, because a lot of it doesn't come home w/my kid!!! I had to laugh at the driving stories too! I got a GPS, the least expensive Garmin, then ended up getting one for my hubby for Father's Day. We love them!, and I am totally dependent on mine!!
I really *should* get a GPS one of these days. It's a wishlist item for me. I am SO the type of person they made them for. Poor Debbie got to listen to me have a total freak out with attempting to get to the Allstate Arena from my house (I really *should* have just paid the extra $$$$$$$ for the limo to the High School Musical concert! What the hey, I was already paying a gazillion dollars for it, at that point what's a few more! I didn't want to because you had to pay for them to sit there during the concert BUT after the traffic/parking fiasco -- I'm pretty sure it would have been worth every penny!!!). Of course, this is also why I showed up 2 hours EARLY for the HSM on Ice show....I was completely beside myself worried with traffic & getting lost because at the concert the re-routed us & I know good & well I had NEVER driven a road that had a gate that went by the airport before. When we went to the ice show, it just confirmed I wasn't insane -- took the exit I needed and turned left into the parking lot. That was how I knew where to go.
I'm fine with driving per se except when they throw detours on me -- just throws me into a total panic if I'm in an area I don't know. Coming home from Disney were were about an hour away & something must have happened because the police made us detour. Sadly it was into some cornfields that didn't have marked streets -- was extremely hard to find out where we were on the map without any street signs. We did know we were going North & knew we wanted to go that way -- figured eventually we would find something and eventually we DID find one that said "Route 30 -- that way" -- I was never so excited in my life -- I had already determined several roads "if we find this one or this or this one..." and 30 was one of them. That was about midnight so it was pitch black in the cornfields too. We still joke how we can get all the way to Florida and have no problems, get nearly back home from the long road trip & basically get lost in our own backyard. I'm just thankful we weren't re-routed in some other state or we would have been in BIG, BIG trouble (although DH was with us, so he's a bit more rational than I am for getting lost -- I just do it more.)
My DD always jokes that the HS is already going "Whose turn is it to talk to Becky?" It's from an insurance company ad where BOB is calling all the time and at the end of the ad, someone goes "Whose turn is it to talk to Bob?" I tell you though whoever writes the forms aren't specific enough for us Freshman parents. They REALLY need to be detailed such as "pre-registration is held in the Athletic office, which is located by the Gymnasium doors on the north side of the building, on these dates"
Would that have been so hard to add? Instead of "Pre-registration for cheer, dance & 9th gradefootball Monday 12-4" Is what was on my letter -- there were other dates but it just listed sports, times you could come in. That would be great for Sophmore, Juniors & Seniors -- I'm sure the parents knew the unwritten obvious place to go is the Athletic office.
I just can't wait until registration day for Freshman -- I can only imagine the 50,000 things that we are going to need to know & only get part answers assuming I know the unspoken parts (or DD does -- she might though), the only saving grace on that one is I think they *know* 90% of the people there will be clueless -- so maybe all the parents can help each other out with the "did you know?" Our school does a volunteer program the kids can get recognition for, found out the food boths the girls were required to work for cheerleading & gymnastics counted for that. I had no idea!!!! I just thought her hours at the animal shelter, church, etc... counted but since she was doing the other things as part of being on the cheer squad, didn't realize it would.
Of course, this is going to be a funky Freshman year for us anyway because it will be unusual in the middle. Then I have one starting Middle School and he has an IEP (so special ed) -- I've been the MS route before but never one with an IEP, so that will be different. Lots of things I have to find out about for first time (he's supposed to have 2 sets of books, I have to figure out when that's going to happen, etc...). To top that off, my 3rd graders school is undergoing a HUGE construction project. Our school district just happened to have an empty elementary school for this school year (VERY unusual situation) and it was decided that all the kids will move over to the new building vs. trying to work around construction. So, he will be sent off on a bus -- we are in walking distance of his regular school. I will be sending all 3 of mine off on a bus this year -- that will be WEIRD -- I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself the first couple weeks as I won't have to take anyone to school per se.
DD doesn't really use her phone all that much even after all the begging. She got it in October of 7th grade, I checked the minutes in December and she has used it a whopping whole 10 minutes total & probably 5 of those were to my cell phone.
) so I get to do the cleanup for it to work right until he does it again (aka. Tonight) MEN!
NO more sweating to death for 45 minutes! 
!!!!
Taylor got this poster!! She is 10!! I told her that I should be hanging it up in MY room! I do not think that DH would appreciate it too much. He is tolerable of the small Patrick Dempsey pic I have posted on the inside of our closet, but this might be pushing it!!!
I have to Google it. I Google everything!
I am sure that our HS will know me pretty well very quickly also. I am one that is never afraid to be at the school or call when I have a question/problem. Despite pleas from my DDs....JK. I think that the kids are very grateful when us parents are involved. I was even allowed to eat lunch w/Megan this year, but was told that it would probably not happen in HS. Oh well...
Only slightly more than her. I get my horoscope, entertainment news, celebrity bdays, and I text the kids and only a few friends. I don't have a keyboard phone, so it is a slow process for me.
Guess who got to talk to Camilla? 
