Great Gift Ideas to Give Your Teen Before University

You’ve watched them grow into the wonderful, talented young people they are today. They’ve worked hard at school, at their extra-curricular activities, and in their social lives. You couldn’t be prouder of them ~ of what they have achieved, of who they are, and of their dreams. Their birthday, or even their graduation, before they move out of their childhood bedrooms and into their university dorms is the perfect time to give them a great, useful gift that will help them succeed.

A New Laptop

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Your child will be going off to study at a prestigious university, and for that, they need a new laptop. They will be working long hours, writing down notes, essays, reports, and presentations. Your old, second-hand computer won’t cut it. They’ll need a fast and reliable machine that can handle all the programs they need at once. Their laptop will be their lifeline. They’ll use it to call you, to watch their favorite movies and TV programs, to work, to message their friends, and more.

Laptops are the salvation of the present age. Give them a great laptop for them to use throughout their time in university.

A Car

All parents hate watching their children move out, which is the personal reason why many parents opt to buy their child a car for university. Naturally, you would never waste your money on a new car – the value depreciates the second you drive it off the lot – but you can certainly get your child a used car. Not only will your young adult have the freedom and ability to travel to places near town, but they also have a means to support themselves. Do they need food, but it’s pouring rain? Now you no longer need to worry about them starving.

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Surviving Our First Week Back To School

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I got a thumbs up from my first grader! 🙂

Today marks the little one’s first week back to school. If truth be told, I cannot believe how quickly time zoomed by and I now have a first grader! Half of me cannot wait to witness all the beautiful things that are about to happen to my first-born, while the other half wanted to freeze time and cocoon my little one so he can stay small for just a bit longer or until mum is ready to let him out into the great big world!

And as if the inner turmoil is not enough, Jared went to school and back home after class on his own for the first time today, too. As I kiss him to send him off for what seemed to be the longest day of my life, thoughts are careening in my head one after another ~ can he manage to travel on his own? Is it okay to let him go alone? But he was too young to be alone? The internal monologue enumerating the pros and cons of letting him on his own continued until it is time for mum to wait for the school boy’s arrival early in the afternoon. I quickly checked how his travel and ride went and if he was behaving while traveling. He answered that everything went well and asked if he can travel to and from school alone from now on.

So, yeah, I guess it is safe to assume that my little one is slowly maturing and that he is starting to gain more independence and would soon be needing mum less. Although I welcome the change, as well as the longer hours of peace and quiet at home leaving me with more time to do chores, work, rest, or whatever it is that I love to do at a given time, the house and I felt like an empty nest without the flurry of activities and the cacophony of Jared-related noise. Yeah, it is easy to tell that I am emotional at some point at this sudden turn of events.

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The Little School Boy’s Grades Are In!

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I was at the little man’s school earlier today to get his report card for the first quarter of this school year. Given that the little guy is a first-time schooler and is just beginning to develop a good study habit, I must say that he did a great job! I cannot help but be anxious as to how his very first major exams will turn out as Jared would rather play with his toys or watch movies on the telly if he will have his way. Sometimes when he is in the mood, he’d ask for his homework before doing anything else once we got home from school. But more often than not, he’d rather put it off until early in the evening and opts to do something else. I am a firm believer of taking the child’s lead as the best way for the little ones to learn, but early in his life I would also want for my son to develop a sound study habit so he can avoid cramming, or worse failing exams, in the future.

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I try as much as I can to ensure that Jared understands each lesson, as well as ensure that he do all his homework by himself with mum supervising on the side. For his major exams, we reviewed the lessons included in his pointers and I printed a couple of worksheets for him to practice on. He was a little confused with ordinal numbers so I made sure to include those in the reviewers.

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