No, you're not the only one who feels that way. Being a dad is the best job I've got! I don't think I'd be done with dispensing of my fatherly wisdom by age 16, you know, those deep thoughts like when you kid says, "Dad, I was playing Ultimate Frisbee and I rammed my knee into a fire hydrant."...and my reply comes, "Well....don't do that." As well has the most important part of raising children, teaching them good Rock-N-Roll from bad!

I knew a couple who have a son who graduated early. They made what I thought to be a wise move in having their son attend a local community college while living at home for a couple of years before the transfer to state college giving him both time to mature under parental guidance and still get the challenge he needed at age 17-early 18. The summers he spent in an internship as an Electrical Engineer at the nuclear power plant.

I managed to graduate college, but I'm pretty sure that I was much more messed up socially and emotionally thanks to the college experience.

I still haven't recovered.

And by this I mean "still having college nightmares".

I had a few this month and last. Always fun.

Maybe when I'm 50 I will work through this.

It's tough to break out of the middle class on the engineer track, though.

You really have to go into medicine and get on the ROAD these days.

You almost have to be a dermatologist or radiation oncologist to accrue the wealth you will need to thrust your grandchildren into the lower rungs of the lower upper class in the hopes that their children will finally have lives of leisure and luxury.

Not everyone places such emphasis on breaking out of the middle class, some are just fine outside of a high pressured Ivy league school leading to 60+ hr. work weeks and high stress stress jobs. For some it's just fine to make a comfortable living, leave work at work, and spend their extra time pursuing more enjoyable pursuits.

I get a little worred about what seems to be a great fixation on money chasing among a great many of the members here. I guess, if that's what makes people happy, go for it. Personally I'd like to see more discussion about using giftedness to serve others and for the good of community or those in need. I haven't talked to one retired person yet who has said, "You know, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have worked more, played, volunteered, and applied myself less to more enjoyable and fulfilling pursuits."

I think the point is to endure the 100+ hr. work weeks as an i-banker so that you can establish a trust fund to allow your grandchildren to live aristocratic lives of poetry, privilege, and worldly glory. You won't enjoy it, but they will as they achieve the permanent residence among the top 0.1% that only massive amounts of money and the right upbringing can buy. Yeah, you'll be the outsider always shunned and spoken about in harsh whispers as someone who was born to a low station in life, but they have a chance to truly be accepted.

Although, I'm the guy who represents homeless and dying people.

Granted, sometimes they die because they drink themselves to death. I got one of those last year.

And I also get annoyed when they threaten suicide on the phone. Really? "If you're really thinking about suicide, I'm going to call the ambulance to come get you." That often calms them down. Fortunately, they only really do that with the staff. They're pretty reasonable with me.

Beautifully put.

My 14yo DD won't be "going away" to an Ivy. She's going to be living at home, and I think that is fine.

I hope that maybe she will take a gap year in order to do an unpaid internship with a local nonprofit that she has worked with since she was nine. We shall see. She also likes the idea of spending some time job shadowing before college in order to better assess what will suit her longterm.

Thanks all--I've decided to watch and wait as, for the moment anyway, he's in a reasonably good place.