Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 393

Dear Son’s First (Now Ex) Girlfriend, What I Want to Tell You

First of all, I want to thank you. If I could have handpicked you myself to be my son’s first girlfriend, I would have chosen you in a heartbeat. Thank for you being sweet and caring and polite, always.

Thank you for being a no-drama, low maintenance kind of young lady. I truly realize they are not always easy to find these days.

I know you accepted my son for who he currently was, not what you probably had hoped the “perfect” boyfriend would be. I myself still sometimes struggle with being...

Saying Goodbye to the Elementary School After 15 Years

This week my youngest child graduates from fifth grade, which means that after fifteen years, our family graduates from elementary school and closes the door on a tangible marker of our children’s childhoods.

Fifteen years of riding bikes to and fro, amazing teachers and some terrible ones, the daily morning rush of breakfast and packing lunches, last-minute errands for the school project just remembered and due tomorrow, recess drama hashed out around the dinner table, and the endless litany...

My Survivors: How Chemo Changed My Family

I had long, thick hair before this all started. As expected, I lost the majority of it, in massive clumps, about two weeks after starting chemo treatments. I haven’t shaved my armpits or legs for months at this point, and I no longer complain about unwanted facial hair — although I have had to learn how to draw on my eyebrows. I like to think that, compared to some of the other chemo side effects and complications, I’ve generally taken the whole no-hair-thing in stride.

Chemo involved the in...

Here Are The Best 12 Dorm Ideas You Won’t Want to Forget

While you may have covered the basics, here are a dozen dorm ideas you’ll definitely want to consider for your college-bound kid! 

12 Best Dorm Ideas

1. Anti – Bug Mattress cover. Sure, you were going to get a mattress cover, after all, because the dorm mattress…gross. We all hope bedbugs are not an issue but dust mites are ever-present, especially in dusty dorm rooms where kids probably won’t wash their sheets as often as they should. For a small increase in price, spring for the anti-allerg...

The Suicide Note That Was a Wake Up Call for My Family

Nothing ever prepares you for reading a suicide note written by your own child.

I’ll never forget the look on my husband’s face when he handed it to me to read. Shock, pain, and a heaviness all showed. As I read each section, addressed to different people in her life, my stomach twisted and tears prickled in my eyes. I wanted to throw up, knowing that she felt this way and hadn’t ever told us.

Thankfully, when I read my stepdaughter’s unfinished note, we knew she was alive and safe, at the t...

How My Nights Going to Clubs Made Me a Better Parent

We walked around the corner onto 54th Street. We confidently strolled down the entire street, past the long line of people. We reached the velvet ropes, and Paul was working at the door.

“Paul!” I yelled, waving my hands in the air.

“Stacy!” he cried, as he swept me up and swung me around. We kissed hello on the cheek as he asked, “How many with you tonight?”

“Six,” I replied pointing to my friends.

He opened the velvet rope for us. My friends went through the regular entrance, while I was...

What I Miss The Most About Watching My Kids Play Sports

As parents, we make more sacrifices for our kids over the course of their lifetime than most of us could possibly count. Some big, some small, but all designed with the same purpose of improving the quality of our child’s life. It’s just one small part of being a parent and it’s something we all know we’re going to have to do well before the sperm and the egg make their little love connection.

And these sacrifices we make, they range from giving up our last fortune cookie at the Chinese food...

Online Dating: The 6 Things Every Woman Needs To Think About First

Welcome to the sisterhood of the newly single middle-aged woman. Since there are so many of us here navigating new but somewhat familiar waters, I want to help you benefit from my experience with online dating.

We are dating again. Or as I look at it, “Holy Cow! I get to date again.” (Yes, I am very much enjoying this adventure more than you can imagine but those stories will have to be saved for another time).

After many years of marriage, which may have been focused on raising children, bu...

Teens, Social Media and Harvard: It’s Time to Stop Throwing Stones

How many of us tell our kids to be mindful about their social media presence? We warn our children because we worry that colleges or employers will see something on our child’s page that reflects badly on them. How often have I heard parents admonish their young adults to keep their Facebook pages, “clean?” Well, this week Harvard University revoked the admissions offers of at least ten students from the class of 2021 because of what the University saw online.

According to the Harvard Crimso...

Dad Walks Daughter to School on First and Last Day

We loved walking our kids into their first grade classroom but by the time the were seniors in high school, we were strictly forbidden from accompanying them to school. But recently, Jason Gayler found a picture of himself walking his 5-year-old daughter Brittany to school, on her first day of school. Dad and Brittany decided to recreate the original photo.

When Brittany tweeted the original photo and the new image of her dad walking her to school on her last day of high school, the twitters...