MORE ON BEING A PARENT OF A SENIOR

Beware parents of young children.  You not only need to be saving for college, you need to save for your child's Senior year of high school!

As I complained  posted about before, the escalation of each event in the lives of our kids has gotten ridiculous.  The "Senior Picnic" was held, not in a park with Frisbees and BBQed burgers, but at Waterworld and cost a whopping $85.00.  The payment form for the Senior Grad-Night  presented to me at registration in August was $175.00.  Of course there were other add-ons including a t-shirt stating that I am the parent of a senior for $26.00! 

Now, in October, I am required to pay for the graduation "materials."  After I waded through all the class rings and class hoodies and class memory book and senior jewelry and "bling charms" for the tassel - I am getting closer to the bottom line.  They hide the cost of the simple cap, gown and tassel choice.  It isn't even on the individual items order form!  They are pushing their "packages" so hard that they make it near impossible to compare the prices for what you really want or need.  They have thrown in so many little charges for this and that and require that you order a minimum of 25 of everything.

Finally I located the cost of the cap and gown (which we buy now, not rent like in the olden days.)  That is $24.00 and is required by the school.  To order just the 25 announcements it is $27.25.  ((Last time around, I needed maybe 10 announcements, maybe I can find someone to share a package...)  So to get the minimum it will cost me $51.25.  The "Value Packages" start at $116.10. 

I might not be so outraged  irritated by the whole thing in March.  But they insist on the payment for this now - 8 months before graduation.  And it appears to have nothing to do with the actual graduation items, because they are shipping the "senior celebration" items in 4-6 weeks.  They don't even say when the actual graduation items will be sent.  So they are forcing us to pay for his stuff now in the hopes that we will buy a bunch of other stuff.  Why not just send out a catalog of the other stuff as "holiday gift giving ideas"  and leave the grad stuff closer to graduation? 

Right now I can afford this.  I finally have a job again and my husband is having a good year, too.  I think of how hard this would have been to take last year and I feel for those families who are already wondering how they are going to handle the holidays. 

No one wants to cheap out when it comes to our kids.  My daughter already feels like she is the only one of her friends not "spoiled" by their parents.  But I'll be darned if I am going to give in to this money grab.  I am buying the minimum and no more.  I'll make it up to her in other ways.