Mama Having a Proud Moment. . . .

Out of the blue I get a text from Sprat; "I had to argue against Jesus today in class."   I was like What???, He responded it was a debate on who was more influential to Christianity Jesus or Constantine.  So I had to ask, why he was arguing for Constantine.  He said, that was what he was given.  I asked how he did and he said he lost, and badly.  I asked if that was bad for his grade, he said no.  He also said; "I can't win when I'm fighting Jesus."  Well, my heart just filled with:  joy, pride, love, and tears.  All I could think was WOW!  Maybe I didn't mess my kids up as bad as  I thought, maybe just maybe I did do something right. 
You guys all know Sprat's school is closing and he is looking into another college in Massachusetts near Boston.  He went for his tour a week or so ago and he went by himself on a tour with these high school seniors and their moms.  I felt a little sad for him but at the same time was so very proud of him for taking that step in his college career.  He has really jumped in to find his school and connect with the people he needs to connect with to make this all happen.  He met with the head of the healthcare management program at this new school and he liked him and liked what he had to say about the program.  I think he is going to be Boston bound again this Fall with a new school and a new lacrosse team.  The lacrosse coach invited him to watch practice while he was there on tour also.  Sprat also pointed out one very important statistic, this college is 7 girls to 1 boy. 
Stay tuned we will be announcing officially soon, so very excited for him. 

College Prep and Other Stuff. . .

Preparing to send a kid off to college is no easy task.  Sprat is two years away from going to college but there are still things that have to be done at this stage.  Sprat is supposed to be preparing by taking classes and being involved in clubs and the community during these couple of years before applying to college.  Our high school offers many AP and Honors classes for the kids preparing for college.  They changed things up this year and required the parents and students to attend an information session about the AP classes.  If you did not come to this meeting your student could not apply to take the AP classes.  I agree that parents have to be involved and that both parent and child should be aware of the commitment required to do well in these classes but, I think this may be a little far reaching.  The students were also required to sit in on a talk by the teacher about what ever class they were interested in.  If they did not sit in on that session then they were not allowed to apply for that AP class.  I say "apply" because they made the students write an essay on why they thought they deserved to be in this particular class and what they were going to do to excel in that class.   Again, I think this is just a little over the top for a high school.  They have now scared my kid to death about taking AP classes.   I thought the whole point of our education system was to encourage our kids to learn and want to excel and want to do their best.  Our high school seems to be discouraging our kids at every turn.  I wonder what would happen if all 450 students in my sons' class did not sign up for a single AP class?  I know that won't happen because the parents in our high school have been brain washed to follow the pack.  

Sprat is so afraid of taking those courses, he is afraid he will not do well and it will hurt his GPA.   So, instead of encouraging our kids to stretch their limits our school is trying to squelch them.   I am trying to encourage Sprat to stretch his limits but he is afraid because of what the administrators have told him.   He is taking honors classes, so that will help.  

Sprat will be a junior this year and this is the year to start applying for some scholarships.  We still have a few more tours to do when I can work them in.  Then he will start actually deciding on where he wants to go and start filling out those applications.  He already knows of two schools he does not want to go to, one because it is too big the other because it is in the mountains and is very cold in the winter.  How is that for choosing a college?   Everyone has their own criteria I guess.   At least he has an idea of what he wants and does not want.   I found this giant book of scholarships at my local used bookstore and it has a lot of scholarships that kids can apply for and some do not require essays.  There is one in there that only requires the kid be over six foot two inches in height.  There is another one for kids that are left handed, I cannot remember if that one requires an essay or not.  

By the time I get Sprat ready to go off to college I should be an expert on this stuff and Big T should be a breeze.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned lots going on. . .   The hubbs made salsa last week and feel another batch to come. . .