Nanny to Mommy

Is your Senior getting ready for a high school graduation? It is truly such a bittersweet time. You have feelings of "Yay! We made it!" to "oh no my baby is turning into a grown up". With all these feelings, comes the festivities and events leading up to the big day. For many students, senior year involves lots of homework, lack of sleep, deadlines, and essays plus college research, college applications, counselor meetings, and scholarship deadlines.

Here is a check list to help you celebrate your senior for their graduation day:

1. Plan Senior Pictures. You will want photographic memories to commemorate the special day. My high school required us to get cap and gown pictures taken at a special studio to even be in our senior yearbook (that was in 2004 though). It might be a good idea to check with your school to see their policy on this and to see what the fees involved are.

2. Fill out FAFSA and Research State Financial Aid. FAFSA is due in October if your senior plans on attending college in the fall after graduation. So, you will need to help them with this as they will ask quite a few questions about your taxes.

3. Set up SATs and ACTs tests. Your senior is going to need to make sure they set up a date that fits their lifestyle and plan ahead if they want to get a decent score. I took the SATs twice. I got the same score because the second time I stayed up too late and planned my time too early as well. They need to make sure they get a good night's rest and eat a quality breakfast the morning of.

4. Plan Prom. Dresses or tuxes, limos, dinner ideas, corsages. I am so glad I attended my senior prom. I had so many fun memories with friends, and I still feel like it was worth every penny (I had to pay for it myself).

5. Order and Send out Graduation Announcements. These custom sticker greeting cards from Sticker&Co can not only inform your friends and family about the upcoming big event for your senior, but also make a great gift as well that they can have to remember the occasion! Sticker&Co card stickers are just like traditional greeting cards, but better. You can personalize them with your own photos and messages then send them out to all the people you care about for any occasion. They have many unique greeting card designs to choose from, which makes creating custom stickers even more fun! Thanks to Sticker&Co, you can turn memories into sticker greeting cards. Sticker&Co can also be used at Graduation parties for removable photo walls to look back on the school year.

6. Plan a Party or Dinner. Are you having a graduation party for your senior? Plan early and even if you plan to just take them out to a nice dinner, think about all the guests your senior would like to bring. I just wanted my dad's family and my mom's family to eat together. I ended up having to choose between them. I chose to go out to eat with my mom since more of her family was there. Remember this is about your child and their moment. 

7. Plan a College Tour (if your child plans on going). Don't worry if your child doesn't plan to go to college, there are so many well-paying careers that don't require it. But if your child does plan to attend college, it might be a good idea to set up some tours to see where they would actually like to go. Plus, this can be some fun one-on-one parent time before they leave the house because even if they aren't traveling to go to school, college is very time consuming.

8. Plan a Senior Trip. I never went on a senior trip, but my sister-in-law and husband have fond memories of theirs. I personally would plan a family trip and let them invite a friend, if I were to plan my child's senior trip, but choose a location that they would like to go.

9. Decorate Their Car for Senior Spirit Week. My friends decorated my car. I really feel like an adult should have been involved in the process. I say that jokingly, but it was fun to come out of work one night to see my car say "Congratulations Graduate" on it.

10. Help Them Remember the Events. There were so many events that were required for our senior year that I would forget and almost missed out! Senior Pictures, Homecoming Games, Prom, Senior Breakfast, Baccalaureate, and more. It would have been so helpful if I had an adult to help me navigate while teach me how to handle when life gets busy.