Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 399
April 24, 2017
Playing Sports in College: How to Help Your Athletic Kid
One of the most significant and stressful times for families of college-bound students is the college search, and it’s more complex when your student is also an athlete. You’ve probably talked to other parents in the stands about recruitment and playing sports in college, but when it comes time to support your athlete, it helps to have a road-map. I just watched my son final at his college conference championship swim meet after a semester of top grades at his choice of an idyllic New England...
How to Select The Perfect College Apartment
Each month, we make a mortgage payment on our house. And, each month, we pay rent. No, we don’t live in two places. Instead, my husband and I live in a home and our 19-year-old son lives in a college apartment in the city where he attends school.
When my son decided to live in an apartment and not stay on campus, I knew things were about to get interesting. I had no idea what the cost of renting and running an apartment was. I also had no idea that my son believed sharing a bedroom was the wo...
High School Grad Thanks His Mom for Her 50 Life Lessons
Like most moms during graduation season, I wiped the tears from my eyes while scratching my head, wondering where the time had gone. But, I also looked back with some sadness on the years I’d wasted trying to mold my son into my idea of success, instead of accepting the amazing person that he is.
Jonathan, my middle child, graduated from high school last May. He’s 6’3 and 190 pounds, but it seems like yesterday that he was scampering into my bed to escape the rumble of a thunderstorm.
[Read...April 21, 2017
8 Things to Know When You Visit Colleges During the Summer
It’s ideal to tour colleges in the fall or spring, but it is often hard to get away with crazy sports and extracurricular schedules, standardized testing, etc. When school’s out for summer, many students and parents have much more time. If you are planning to visit colleges during the summer, here are some tips and things to keep in mind.
1. Not all schools offer Saturday info sessions and tours.
Try to visit colleges when you can go on a...
April 20, 2017
You’ve Been Accepted! Now, How Do You Decide?
This is the end of a long road for applicants. Students have spent the past three (or more!) years sifting through hundreds of schools, visiting dozens of campuses, and conquering an avalanche of admissions essays. They have been crossing their fingers and toes so hard for the past few months, their limbs are just now coming back to life. It’s finally time to let the steam out of the pressure cooker. As schools deliver their divine decisions, the task of deciding which of the available option...
My Daughter Quit Something She Used to Love
“So,” she said, “what’s your daughter doing now that she quit the dance company? How is she spending that time?”
What a question. I’d run into my acquaintance while walking our dogs, and could have anticipated it.
“Um, napping,” I said.
“No, but really, how is she using that time?”
“Really, napping,” I assured her. In fact, I guessed that was what she was doing right then, as we spoke.
Nervous laughter. “Oh, well. Gosh. Zoe’s really enjoying dancing, and she’s trying to figure out how to fit...
College Life is Like a Painting in Progress
“College is the best time of your life,” my daughter hears as she prepares to leave home.
“Does she love it?” my friends ask of me at the holiday break, nodding their heads up and down.
Daily she’s bombarded with images on Instagram and Snapchat that paint a picture of “the perfect” college life experience happening at every college campus across the country. Those are big expectations to live up to for an 18 year old leaving home for the first time, living with complete strangers packed thre...
Here are 8 Things I Learned My Second Time Around
It’s that time of year. Spring has sprung and graduation season is nearly here. Again. We’re about to launch our second child. And I’m okay with it. You heard me right. It’s a good thing. She’s ready. And—believe it or not—so am I.
Now don’t get me wrong, I still get an occasional lump in my throat when I think about letting her go. She is, after all, my baby. My last. And I will miss my daily doses of her dry humor and the flurry of activity that seems to follow her. I’ll miss our family di...
April 18, 2017
Their First Year of College is Over! You Can Exhale Now Moms
Their first year away at college is almost over. You can exhale now, moms. You did it.
I did what all the experts said to do.
I kept it totally and completely together.
When we moved my firstborn son into his dorm room (incidentally the same dorm I had lived in 25 years prior) I remembered all the tips and advice articles that I had devoured the summer prior, on how to make college drop off “easier.” (Easier? More like, less painful.) So, I stood there holding in 18 years of emotion with t...
Why I Stopped Punishing My Son For Misbehaving In Class
My 8th grade son has been struggling at school this year. It is nothing huge, he just seems to be butting heads with some of the teachers. Not a week goes by that I don’t get a call or email about a little something: “You son refuses to take off his hood.” “Your son has been talking too much during class.” “Your son did not complete the assignment in class today.”
Honestly, I have been frustrated with him– really frustrated, and I have let him know. These emails leave me feeling angry at him...
