Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 349

Seventeen Magazine Editor: How Teens Can Make the Most of Their Summer

Join us for a Facebook Live on Grown and Flown when we sit down with Joey Bartolomeo, Executive Editor of Seventeen Magazine on Tuesday, May 8, at 7PM ET to talk about summer vacation and how teens can make the most of their time off from school. 

The school year is coming to an end, and while every high school student deserves some time to relax, we all know that binge-watching Netflix isn’t something they can list as an activity on a college application. But that doesn’t mean you need to fo...

Why College Admissions Officers Want to Hear From Your Teen

Once, during lunchtime in a suburban New York high school cafeteria, a group of fellow college admissions officers and I were used as target practice for a gaggle of teenage boys who decided to see how far they could throw the various pieces of fruit in their lunch bags. I’m fairly confident that my earlobe zested the rind of a large orange that whizzed past my head.

Eventually, the barrage of caloric bullets subsided, and I brushed crushed chips off my Marquette University banner and brochur...

When Texting Your Teen, Follow These Four (Not So) Simple Rules

Like most parents, I text with my teens regularly, and I feel fairly competent: I’m a good communicator, I know the lingo, and I understand the ins and outs of texting with teens.

Or so I thought.

Last week my oldest daughter, a college junior, sent me this text:

“Sometimes when you ask a ton of questions about whatever I’m doing or use excessive punctuation it really stresses me out.”

Wait, what? I scrolled back through our texts, looking for evidence, and quickly found this offending text:...

I’m Giddy My Teen Is Wearing ’80s Fashions: 6 Hot Trends

My daughter came downstairs the other morning wearing socks over her pants. It brought me back to 1985 when my friends and I would rock that look. Strolling through the clothing store with her these days is an absolute joy. Not only have we reached a point when we can share clothes, and our combined wardrobe is larger than I care to admit, every time we venture out something reminiscent of the good ol’ ’80s makes its way home with us. I love it and more than that, I love that my daughter digs...

Dear Graduates, So Sorry That We Have Failed You

Dear Graduates of the Class of 2018,

We have failed you. I’m embarrassed to be a part of this generation that has created an unattainable expectation for college acceptances. Our system is flawed, and you are the unfortunate inheritors of this whacked out process we’ve created in the last few decades to get into college.  I’m so sorry that we have told you a 4.0 GPA isn’t good enough and that your hard work in high school means nothing.

Let me debunk that myth: a 4.0 GPA is beyond good enough...

My College Graduate Is Moving Home And I’m A Little Worried

Four years ago my older daughter was graduating high school, getting ready to move 300 miles away to college, and I was an emotional wreck. Sure, on the outside I was cool and collected — in my memory at least — but on the inside I was fighting the battle between my pride and excitement for her and my own heartache that the time had actually come for her to spread her wings and take that terrifying leap from the nest.

I could not imagine how our close-knit family would survive without one of...

Dear Younger Me, I Want You to Know This…

Now that I’m on that other side of parenting (meaning my three sons are mostly grown and I’m no longer in the trenches), I’ve had some time to reflect. When I say reflect,I mean think about things I think I got right and things about which I was off base. There are things I wish I had known—things I would tell my younger self about being a mother if I could.

Here is some of what I would say… Dear Younger Me,

First-

I am not going to tell you to enjoy every minute of parenthood because, if I...

The Six Best TV Shows To Binge Watch With Your Teen

It’s no mystery our teens pull away as they get older and finding things to do with them that you both enjoy can be tough if not impossible. As their parents, we long to bond with them and most days they don’t seem to need to connect like we do.

One thing that works like a charm and leaves you all feeling a bit more bonded is a good binge-watching session.

Even if you aren’t talking, you are still spending time together and it’s nice to have something to talk with your teen about during those...

My Son Remembers What Life Was Like Before I Got Sober

It happened again this morning, and as usual, I wasn’t prepared.

The kids and I were hanging out in the living room – well, actually, I was drinking coffee in order to be coherent enough to drive them to school, and they were waiting on me to drink it – when we arrived on the topic of the Chinese Zodiac. Maverick, my oldest, is the one who broached the subject. He’s nine, and reading a series of books that I’m not entirely sure is age-appropriate, so he had questions.

“What animal am I in the...

Four Years After I Dropped My Son Off At School, I Finally Visited Him

Boarding pass in hand, gate 12in sight. Check. As comfortable as any woman in my soon-to-be another-decade-old body. Dressed in my typical uniform—my closets have seen decades of the same thing—turtleneck, jeans, vest, and backpack. Comfy shoes.

I’m headed to D.C. My older son graduates from college in five weeks, and in his really gentle and loving way, he reminded me about three weeks back that I had dropped him off four years ago and never returned for a visit. Through dorm moves, apartmen...