Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 366
January 26, 2018
Why There’s No Love Like the Love of Our Older Kids
My daughter asked to take this picture with me.
Actually, she insisted on it.
“I don’t have any pictures with you in them,” she told me sternly. “I want one today.”
And then one night a few months before she moved into her college dorm, when I was tucking her into bed (which, okay, involved me standing at the foot of her bed while she pulled up the covers), she sighed happily and said, “I love our family.”
We weren’t having a conversation about our family. We weren’t having a conversation ab...
Remember These 2 Things When You Chaperone Your Teen’s Party
Last night, I entered some brand-new parenting territory: my fifteen-year-old daughter’s first winter formal.
It began as an afternoon of fun, preparatory primping. Hair, nails, and makeup—check. Dress and shoes ready—check. And then, I realized that there were seventeen ninth-grade girls and boys on the way to my house. Seriously? This required countless deep breaths (and even a little sweat as I scrambled to complete last-minute housework).
When the doorbell rang and the kids awkwardly tri...
They Come Home and Leave Again (and Again)…Sigh
I captured this silhouette photo of my first-year college daughter when she didn’t know I was looking. Her sweet face was in soft repose, and there was a slight smile on her lips, no doubt a reaction to a friend’s text. She was peaceful; no worry, no hurry. She looked less like the adult she’s become, and more like my little girl.
Oh. My. Heart.
Just a few minutes later, we stood at Las Vegas’s Bellagio Fountains and listened to Elton John’s song, “Your Song.”
With my wife on one side and my...
Teaching Teens Gratitude: Tough Job But Needs to be Done
While I was at a friend’s house a few weeks ago, we were chatting away as her son walked in the kitchen and grabbed a snack. He didn’t offer anything to my son who was standing right next to him– I didn’t think much about it, they were laughing and having a great time as her and I were deep in our conversation about just how hard it is to raise decent human beings.
She stopped him in his tracks and scolded him for not offering any chips and soda to his guest.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Really.”...
5 Tips if You are Planning a Move as an Empty Nester
Recently, my husband and I faced an unexpected opportunity to change houses, cities, and jobs. I jumped quickly towards the challenge while my husband, at times infinitely more thoughtful than I, held back. After all, we both were in our mid-fifties and had finally become empty nesters. At one of those rare times in life, everything seemed secure: good jobs, a nearly paid-off mortgage, healthy family members, and a support system of known doctors, dentists, friends, bosses, and car mechanics....
January 25, 2018
My Daughter Is Pulling Away From Me And I Am Struggling
This morning my daughter leaned in to hug me, but kept her arms at her sides. She was trying to be quick and pull away but I grabbed her and held on longer.
“I need a hug, lady,” I said. I’ve called her lady since she was a tiny 6-pound morsel who fit perfectly in the nook of my arm. I carried her like that everywhere– mostly because she came out of my womb looking up at me in awe and didn’t stop until she was about 4. But also, because she was so happy there.
She used to lie contentedly nex...
First Semester Was NOT “The Time of My Life”
I need to apologize to everyone that follows me on social media. I need to apologize because I’ve been lying to everyone for the past few months. In August of 2017, I started my freshman year of college at American University, my dream school.
Everyone told me how proud they were for following my dreams, and they told me that I would have the time of my life. I arrived to campus with stars in my eyes and dreams in my heart, ready to have the best years of my life. The first month or so was g...
January 23, 2018
When Her Son Got Hurt in Alaska, Here is the Mom Who Helped
We send our children off to college, often to places where we and they know not a soul and we hope that if there is a real problem, their friends and their school will see them through until we can get to them. Janessa West’s son, Joey, attends Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage and at 3AM one morning last week he called her. Janessa told us he was
crying in agonizing pain, he had gotten up to go to the bathroom and his leg gave out on him and he fell to the floor and couldn’t walk. He w...
January 20, 2018
Toxic Friendship: When it’s Time for Parents to Step in
My teenage son has always been a pretty good child– not perfect by any means, but he was always someone who followed the rules and seemed afraid of what might happen if he broke them. He’s never been a risk taker and so when the subject of drugs and alcohol came up a few years ago, I could tell by his reaction he wasn’t interested– not then anyway. We all know it’s a constant conversation we need to have and lookout for the signs – situations and feelings can change – we were all teens once,...
With College Choice, it’s All About Them and Not About Us
Today, as I watched my high school senior walk into school wearing the hoodie of my alma mater’s athletic bitter rival, all I could think about was Sandra Bullock’s “Blind Side” portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, telling her football-star son, Michael Oher, that if he went to Tennessee instead of her beloved Ole Miss, she would be there for every game but she would not be wearing that “gaudy orange….It is not in my color wheel and I’m not gonna wear it.”
At my kids’ high school, they have unifor...
