Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 289

Don’t Forget To Take A Girls’ Trip, It’s Worth The Effort

Why it’s so important to spend time with girl friends.

As a young girl, I was drawn to other girls who were loud, funny, and who liked to clip feathers in their hair and sneak make-up in their backpacks and apply it on the school bus, just like I did.

I soon realized I was drawn to these girls because they were different from my parents who were stoic and strict. I mean, I got to choose who to spend my time with at recess. I got to sit next to people who made me laugh and who smelled good and...

The One Thing I’m Doing That’s Helping Me Survive The Teen Years

This is my tip for how parents can survive the teen years.

Parents of teens talk about it until they are blue in the face–the teen years are busy, they are hard, they are stressful, they make our heads spin. None of us really know what the heck we are doing or how we are going to keep our weeks straight.

Am I right?

We’ve entered a decade (or so) of intense sporting events, orthodontist appointments, feeling like an Uber driver to keep up with their activities. We’ve had to brush up on our re...

Let Your Teens Choose Their College Major, It’s Their Future, Not Yours

Let you college kids choose their own college major (Artem Kalashnikov/Shutterstock)

Plans.

Plans.

Plans!

Oh the plans WE have for OUR kids!

So. Many. Plans!!

WE planned and decided on infant care. 

WE planned and decided on preschool.

WE planned and decided on elementary, middle, and high schools. 

WE planned and decided on So. Many. Things!

As parents, we spent 18 years planning, contemplating, weighing, discussing, and deciding on a million little things for our kids, all in the name of no...

My Son Turned 16 And It Feels Like A Game Changer Birthday

Why turning 16 changes everything.

As the waitress slipped the huge piece of chocolate cake across the table, the candle that she’d added illuminated my son’s face. With a big smile, he listened as we sang “Happy Birthday” to him and he eagerly tucked into the cake when we were finished. He joked that he’d probably need to order another slice because, when you are a newly minted sixteen-year-old boy, you can eat an entire cake in one sitting.

I watched him giggle with his sister and answer q...

It’s Not About The Sport: A Dad Gets Ready for His Son’s Last Game

After 23 years of coaching, I will miss watching my sons play soccer. (matimix/Shutterstock)

I was only a spectator to my oldest son’s first year of soccer, which wasn’t unexpected because I had never played the game myself. I grew up during a time when it seemed the only organized sport in my town was Little League and, outside of that, my friends and I mostly played softball, baseball, football and hockey, all of it in the street.

I first discovered soccer in college. My college did not hav...

It’s Not About The Sport: A Dad Get’s Ready for His Son’s Last Game

After 23 years of coaching, I will miss watching my sons play soccer. (matimix/Shutterstock)

I was only a spectator to my oldest son’s first year of soccer, which wasn’t unexpected because I had never played the game myself. I grew up during a time when it seemed the only organized sport in my town was Little League and, outside of that, my friends and I mostly played softball, baseball, football and hockey, all of it in the street.

I first discovered soccer in college. My college did not hav...

It’s My Right To Tell My Teens They Can’t Hang Out With Certain Kids

My son was always a pretty happy kid, then puberty seemed to take over his body, heart, and soul. Long gone was my happy, jubilant child who would overshare and go out of his way to invite people to our house for dinner before asking me if it was okay.

The change was hard for me, but harder for him. I’m sure of it. Things took a turn for the worse when he started hanging out with a boy he’d met in 9th grade.

It’s okay to tell your teen they can’t hang out with certain kids. (DFP Photographic/...

New Smartphone Apps May Be Able to Detect Depression Symptoms in Teens

Smartphone apps might be able to be used to detect the mental health of the user.

(Mindmo/Shutterstock)[/caption]

Today’s technology can do some amazing things, and in some cases, one of those amazing things it can do can include saving a life. Case in point; over the last few years, several Apple Watch wearers have found themselves being alerted by their watch (without prompting) that something wasn’t right with their heartbeat rhythms.

The watches, which are capable of recording and notici...

This Is Why I Will Not Push My Teen To Take AP Classes

I realize now that there’s more to success than the A’s and 5’s on my teens’ transcripts. (Intellistudies/Shutterstock)

At the AP fair in my son’s high school I listen to the teachers list their expectations for students who will take their classes next year. I have been through the rigmarole before, with my first born who is now in college.

This time though, I listen with the ears of one who has been wizened by the drill of the college admission process. And this time I agree with all that...

MTV Was So Much More Than Music Videos

When MTV launched in 1981, Generation X had no idea that music was about to change for ever. (Screen shot: YouTube)

Last year, during the solar eclipse, I read that singer Bonnie Tyler was hired to perform her 80s hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on a cruise ship during the exact moment that the sun was in full eclipse with the moon. Aside from being insanely jealous of the cruise ship passengers who would witness such awesomeness in person, I immediately recalled the music video that accompa...