Follow-up and Counter-Intuitive Financial Advice

A couple things that I should probably clear up...before anyone reports me to child services:-)

First, I totally agree that watching a soccer game is not a real good reason to miss school. To be really honest, though, she doesn't need a reason to miss school...if she woke up this morning and said "I don't feel like going today," I'd have let her stay home. I am sure that sounds weird, but she loves school, and she never expresses any desire to skip out. If she and her friend/sometimes sister/sometimes mom/former roommate want to take an afternoon to themselves, I see no reason to stop them. I could probably make the argument that maintaining this very important relationship in her life is more important than a couple activities.

Second, as Laurwilk pointed out, Munchkin's school is different than what you or I remember as school. She is there from 8-5 every day, so "leaving early" meant sometime around 2:30. They have academic classes all morning, and then they have other stuff after lunch...art, music, sports, theater, stuff like that. Becky brought up a good point about being on a team and the importance of committing to the team...but her lacrosse practice is much more "gym class" than it is organized sport. Everyone has to pick at least one sport at a time to play, but they don't actually play many games against other schools...mostly it is just their phys ed.

Kristin wondered why random people can pull her out of school...lol. They can't. The school has a pretty strict policy on letting kids come and go during the day (and even at the end of the day until they are a certain age). Smoking Hot Roommate, along with Big Sis, Papa Bear and The Boy, are all cleared with the school to pick her up, though...anyone other than that, and they need direct authorization from me. And yes, it is necessary to have others who can get her.

Incidentally, Munchkin and SHR made tentative plans to go to Rome for the next game, right up until their team's heartbreaking loss...ahh well, maybe next year;-)

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Total change of subject...I met with my financial planner yesterday. I hadn't seen him in a while, and have to get some things in order before school, and getting married, etc. Also, have I ever mentioned that he is incredibly hot? Sorry...that is not really important to the story...

Anyway, the subject of Munchkin's summer work came up, and he had some interesting advice. I had sort of heard it before, but he explained it a little better: that she shouldn't be saving for college. Because of the way they figure financial aid in college, any money that she saves on her own will reduce the non-loan financial aid that she will get. And, with no parents to figure into the income calculation, she can expect to get a lot. Basically, she will be penalized for anything she saves.

His advice was to keep the money out of her name so that she will have it and be able to use it (either to spend, or to reduce the amount she needs to borrow) but that it is less likely to be factored into her financial aid calculations. Sounds maybe a little dishonest to me...but I haven't decided what to do.

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Finally, a very happy Mother's Day to all of my mom-readers...and to all of my son and daughter-readers, too:-) I feel like the day should stir more emotions in me than it does, but whatever. SHR and Big Sis will have their annual breakfast together (not sure I ever mentioned that...but ever since their mother died, they have an annual date for breakfast at the same place, which I think is really cute).

And then dinner with The Boy's mom:-) Because she is awesome:-)