Normally our Galena Family has 4 beautiful off-spring (Isaac, Seth,
Sarah & Yael) however it seems the Kaplan SAT review course has
endowed us with 3 more: Andrew, Judson & Kari Galena. It seems that
when Yael graduated from High School, Kaplan's could not believe we
were no longer supporting them and since the name "Yael"
does not spell check in any system, I think the name morphed first
into Andrew, then Judson and now our darling Kari. Either that,
or Harold, my husband, in About Schmidt fashion, has adopted numerous
foster children overseas, which would not surprise me. There is only
one thing the man loves more than his children, besides running
marathons, and that is the prospect of grandchildren. Our new mail-order
children would have to do.
All three started off with an innocuous folder flyer in the mail
for the Kaplan review- "Andrew Galena, as you contemplate
college........";. The Princeton Review was right on their tail,
one year Andrew, the next Judson and the third year, Kari. I was
having new children yearly. And this is after twins and 2 daughters! Someone
call a Child Birth Educator!...Hey wait a second, I do that.
Thankfully, financial aid letters arrived as well. Putting 3 children
through college at the same time would require taking out a loan, at
Fort Knox, of pure gold. And that would just be for the application
fees. But sad as it to say, poor Andrew and Judson, without the
prep courses, success is not on the drawing board: Andrew began to get
letters from technical schools, secretarial schools, Gordon Phillips
Beauty School, Chubb Institute, Devry, and even the Air Force, sympathizing,
"If college is not your choice.........".
Judson was sought by Community Colleges, the Navy and several shady
on-line colleges. Our hearts were heavy--had we as parents prevented
them from succeeding? As the mail kept on coming I learned more and
more about my new kids, and how they had low expectations for the
future. I would open the mail and sigh, "Poor Andrew, I'm
sure he tried." or "With a name like Judson
Galena perhaps he should try theater?"--the Armed Forces just
didn't seem appropriate.
Then, wonder of wonders, came our Kari--without one cent to either
Kaplan's or the Princeton review, our little Kari received word just
last week that she had been elected to the (and I quote- I'm not
making any of this up) "The Elite Book Of High School
Students" reserved for the top 5% of the class- THE TOP 5%!!!!
My Kari was a genius. She's the smartest in the family! I was kvelling
all over the place. Not once had I ever checked her homework, nor
scolded her for watching too much TV, or going out past her bedtime.
Hands Off Parenting can truly be effective. My real kids can attest to
this.
I was going to end this article my bragging that Kari is not only
smart, but generous- a couple of weeks ago she received a free
Gillette razor and she let me borrow it without a peep!!!! What a kind
soul!
BUT- and this is almost too much-2 days ago we get a letter
addressed to the Parents of Andrew Galena, incoming freshman. INCOMING
FRESHMAN! You all remember what it felt like to get your first
college acceptance- I felt the same way for Andrew- I didn't know who
to call first. I had the Galena Dad read the letter several times (the
acceptance letter was from a bank about loans) to see if there was a
hint to where he had been accepted, but alas, we'll have to wait for
the next missile from our friendly postman!
The
Galena MOM
Rlourie1@aol.com
