Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 324

Birthday Gift Ideas and Holiday Care Packages for Your College Kid

I’ve always suffered from HBDD: Holiday Big Deal Disorder. It’s not that I feel the need to make every holiday or birthday or special occasion a bit overblown, it’s that I want to. Let’s put it this way, if themed decorations are involved, so am I. So when my daughter went to college and I was faced with an entire calendar year of holidays she’d miss out on, I knew there was only one solution: I’d have to get the holiday to her. Or at least as much of it as would fit in a box. A box that I’d...

Senior Year: Wasn’t It Just Yesterday That I Was Chasing Toddlers?

The Universe or God of Heat Waves must be smiling on me. I’m not ready for Finn’s senior year. I’m taking the school cancellation as a reprieve to collect myself. I’ve been in denial. Well not really, but I have been stuffing emotions like a chipmunk until this evening when at a stop light the dam broke and I burst into tears as Donna Summer sang McArthur Park on Sirius 70s on 7. (Don’t judge.)

Something about the cake in the rain and never having the recipe again pierced me to the core even...

Why Parents Have A Hard Time Allowing Kids To Struggle

The other day I was scrolling through posts on a virtual support group site for parents of students at one of our state universities.  A Mom was asking for advice, on behalf of her son, on how to get him out of a difficult class that he was already struggling with the first week of the semester. There were several comments from other parents, sharing that their kids had also struggled with similar intro-level language classes, and that the best thing to do was have her son drop the campus cou...

Here’s What You Need To Know About the FAFSA and CSS Profile

October 1 is an important day in the financial aid process. It’s the first day students can access and submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile for the 2019-2020 academic year. If you’re not sure what these forms are and whether or not to submit them, look no further. All the basic information you will need is right here.

Filling Out the FAFSA and CSS Profile Who Should Submit These Forms?

Any U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen who is seeking need-based aid from post-secondary institutions must sub...

Teenage Brain Development: Adolescents Don’t Deserve a Bad Rap

“Teenagers are brilliant.”

This declaration may not be what one expects to hear from an expert in adolescent brains, but neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore says it unblinkingly. She has dedicated her career to understanding the teen mind, and her findings shed a much-needed light on what’s happening in our teenagers’ brains as they move from childhood to young adulthood.

The author of Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain[image error] and a self-professed champion of teenagers, Blake...

When My Teen Asks for Help, He’s Really Asking For Love

“Mama, you’re so pretty, you could be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.” My six-year-old son and I were nestled together on the couch, watching snow fall from mid-December’s sky and our favorite football team vie for a win. With his sweet adoration and heartfelt expression of love, he won my heart and gifted me all I could want for Christmas, too.

In stark contrast, these days I mostly just get grunted at by the teenage version of my son. My questions are typically answered with one-word sentence...

The Moment You Realize Your Teen Has Found Their Passion Is Amazing

I came to the sport of running late in life. Though I ran on my high school track team, I hung my running shoes up for many years until the strain of sleepless nights and baby weight became too much for me. In my early thirties, I dusted off on my running shoes and I ran away from home as often as I could. For me, running has been a salvation, a source of social interaction with friends and an activity that I’ve done just for me.

As I’ve raised my kids, I’ve wanted to set an example of health...

Middle School is Becoming the New High School and It’s Ridiculous

My fourth child started middle school recently, and since I’ve clearly been through this before,  I had few worries and anxieties about it. I know that in the span of just three years he’ll greatly mature both socially and physically, and he’ll be challenged in ways and with interpersonal scenarios that elementary school simply can’t offer. I know that middle school isn’t something to fear and lose sleep over,  and watching our once dependent children morph into independent ‘tweens’ is someth...

The One Very Important Quality That’s Missing in Many College Students

Think of your college kid right now.

Now think of them in one of the following situations, and what personality characteristic they’ll need to get through them.

Can you guess what that characteristic is?  Here are some clues;

What’s it called when you study your tail off for weeks only to fail the exam, but you don’t let the failure keep you discouraged for weeks?

What’s it called when your long term boyfriend dumps you, but you don’t hole up in your dorm alone for weeks swearing off all bo...

My Favorite Books to Fill Your Empty Nest

This time next year, my twins will go to college. As such, I am hyper-aware of time passing and imagining next fall. So many of my dear friends face the dreaded Empty Nest right now. They realize that staying busy will be key to managing this very big change. So in lieu of staring at the phone wondering whether to text your college kids or indulging in way too much cheese or chocolate, here are some book recommendations for extreme escapism:

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