Financial Introduction

I am so proud of our little G! Friday is generally when the majority of the week's assignments/tests come home in his take-home folder. Imagine my surprise this weekend when I pulled out several assignments/tests with perfect scores! He's doing so well in school and is working really hard at keeping his high emotions in check. I know it's so hard for him, and he slips up, but he tries to calm down quickly and apologize after an outburst.

Ava had a concert band concert on Monday night, and also participated in the 9th grade area-wide band festival at a high school across the cities on Wednesday. They stopped at the MoA for lunch/shopping on the way home. Seems like a pretty grand way to spend a day in the middle of a winter week!

Not sure this is a comfy position to watch a movie, but...ok!

Last night, I chose a non-funny, serious movie for Ava and me to watch. G was off watching YouTube (but asked a question of me this morning that let me know he was paying a little attention to what we saw.) Scott was snoozing on the couch, but I know he wholeheartedly agrees with what we were watching.

After joining a FB group on "paying for college", I've become disgusted by the price of higher education. Ava has commented that she wants to leave the country for post-high school education, because she doesn't want to pay for it (that obviously comes with its own challenges, as well as expenses.) But, after we watched "Borrowed Future" on Prime on Friday night, she stated that she absolutely does not want to have student loans. We talked a bit about local tech schools, as well as community colleges in the area. She mentioned that maybe she would stay living at home while in school, and is interested in commissioning art pieces for extra cash. Ava has a good head on her shoulders, and knows she doesn't want to go into life with a large amount of debt. We talked about scholarships, taking high school classes for college credit, and using the Achieving Dreams option to earn money for school-related expenses.

I know it seems early to talk about this, as she doesn't know what she wants to do, but I think it's wise to set expectations now. I don't think I realized how lucky I was to walk away from a private college without any student loans (THANK YOU, Mom and Dad!!!) And Scott went the vo-tech route and estimates he paid about $15k for his school (he has no student loan debt, either.)

Not a fun Friday night, but my heart (and shoulders) feel a bit lighter knowing that Ava sees how serious this is. We'll be using the next few years to prep as best we can, to give her the best sendoff possible!

We opted not to celebrate St Patrick's Day with any green beer, but are looking forward to a delayed corned beef and colcannon potato dinner on Sunday night. YUM! 🍀

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Go, Go, Goers!

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