Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 305

The Case For Staying Home On New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve is upon us and as I walk around the stores buying things for my kiddos, the fancy heels and dresses always catch my eye.

I think about how it might be fun to pick something shiny and new out and spend an evening in the city at a fancy dinner or club and ring in the New Year with friends and good food and wine.

Then I remember I’ve done that before, I’ve done it as a young girl with my teenage friends, I’ve done it as a college student, I’ve done it as a grown woman.

It’s fun an...

The Grown and Flown Stories You Loved Best in 2018

This year was once again a very good year at Grown and Flown. We continued to receive and publish great writing and our readers continued to enjoy and respond to our posts but as always a few posts stood out from the pack.

Grown and Flown’s most loved stories in 2018 (Shutterstock)

So without further ado, we present the top ten posts of 2018:

Here’s Why I Loved Being a Teen in the ’80s 

Nostalgia was one of our most popular topics this year and Katie Bingham Smith captured our hankering for t...

The Grown and Flown Posts You Loved Best in 2018

This year was once again a very good year at Grown and Flown. We continued to receive and publish great writing and our readers continued to enjoy and respond to our posts but as always a few posts stood out from the pack.

Grown and Flown’s most loved stories in 2018 (Shutterstock)

So without further ado, we present the top ten posts of 2018:

Here’s Why I Loved Being a Teen in the ’80s 

Nostalgia was one of our most popular topics this year and Katie Bingham Smith captured our hankering for t...

This Is What I Did When A Stranger Left A Rude Note On My Son’s Car

My high school senior has a new job working at a children’s “gym” and was asked to work their booth at a neighborhood festival. When he came home, he showed me some notes that were left on his car. The festival drew a big crowd so parking spilled into the surrounding neighborhoods. A disgruntled resident left not one, but two notes. They read as follows:

“Are you stupid or just a dick? Why did you park here? I’m going to call in your license plate to the police.”

“To the asshole who parked he...

This Is Why I’m Looking Forward To School Vacation

My boys decided to go sledding last Saturday morning while I was unloading the dishwasher. As I looked outside and saw them sitting on the top of the sledding hill, the same hill that hasn’t been used in years because really, they’ve felt they are too old to sled, I felt a pang in my chest.

Trying to be present and find joy in the moment while watch your growing kids enjoy something they used to do can quickly be ripped away when you realize the rigmarole starts up again in a day or two. It e...

Is Smart Phone Obsession The New Smoking? No, It’s More Than That

We have one within ten minutes of waking up. Some of us before we’ve even gotten out of bed. It’s the last thing we do before we go to sleep. We use it as a break from work. We use it as a way to step away from a social gathering for a minute or to enter a new social group. It gives us something to do with our hands. It gives us a dopamine rush. If we go to long without it, we panic. We feel off. And, for teenagers, the sentiment is, if you’re not doing it, you’re not cool.

They may not leave...

My Second Daughter is a High School Junior and Here’s Why I’m Not Crying

By this time two years ago, I was a mess. I’m talking ugly crying at concerts, school musicals, ring ceremonies, prom parent meetings, college essay writing workshops – you name it. My older daughter was a junior in high school and I was getting ready to miss her when she went away to college. Ridiculous, I know, but it happened. I cried because I felt for the parents of seniors, whose ‘last’ concert in high school this was. I cried because next year I would be the parent of the senior whose...

To The Parents With Kids Who Struggle: They Will Land On Their Feet

One day my middle son asked, “Why is everything so hard for me?”

His question echoed my years of sleepless nights worrying about him and wondering how to ensure this slow-paced boy would find success in a fast-paced world.

Unless you live with it, one would not imagine that learning differences bleed into every corner of life outside the classroom. Although my son was diagnosed only with ADHD and mild processing and working memory issues, it was clear early on that the way he digested informa...

You Really Are Allowed To Be Sad Over The Holidays

When the first holiday lights start being hung around town, or we hear the first Christmas song on the radio, or we are sitting under our favorite blanket and see the first Christmas commercial on television, we always have an emotion wash over us.

Sometimes that feeling is happy, warm and familiar. Sometimes it’s annoyance that this season has become so commercialized. And sometimes it’s stress that we already feel behind even though it’s only October and we do, in fact, have oodles of time...

My Teen Is Dating And I Am An Embarrassing Future Mother-In-Law

I knew this day would come but I didn’t think it would happen so fast. It seems like just yesterday my little boy was sitting next to me, in overalls and holding a Thomas train, gazing at me with love and affection. The day he promised to marry me made my heart sink because I knew it was a ruse. My little boy would grow up some day and he’d likely find someone other than his mother to accompany him to movies.

And that time is now.

My son is dating and I’m fairly certain I’m not ready. In fact...