Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 401
April 6, 2017
Why My Daughter Wore My Prom Dress and Loved it – Really!
When my older daughter first suggested re-purposing my 1987 prom dress for her prom this year, I was surprised and skeptical. After all, this dress was the quintessential 80’s prom dress—layers and layers of taffeta, under a princess pink gown, in a delightfully trendy tea length, with puffy Cinderella sleeves. When I wore it almost (can it be!) thirty years ago, I felt like a princess – a like totally awesome princess.
[image error]
I loved that dress, but as a rule, I’m not all that sentimental nor am...
How to Make Decisions Like a Champ: Professor Has These 3 Tools
The agony of too many choices can be shared with anyone who has ever visited a restaurant with a six page menu or tried to decide which movie to watch on a new streaming account. A plethora of possibilities leave us feeling overwhelmed and confused. Not only is too much choice paralyzing, it can also leave you feeling like any choice that you do make is profoundly unsatisfying.
Consider something as simple as jam. That’s right. That sweet, fruity goodness otherwise known as peanut butter’s b...
April 5, 2017
4 Questions Every Parent Wants to Know Answered by Lisa Damour
When Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood[image error] first came out in early 2016, I had the privilege of traveling the country to talk with parents about their daughters. In large and small gatherings I highlighted key points from the book and also got to talk with readers about topics that hadn’t been addressed in Untangled. A few questions arose almost everywhere I went, and I’m delighted that with the publication of the paperback edition of Untangled I’m able...
How to Decorate a College Dorm Room – Adorable and Easy!
There are few things that excite me more than an empty dorm room. After three years at boarding school and with sophomore year on the rise, transforming the dorm room is something I continue to look forward to as summer comes to an end. Here are some of my best tips (and secrets…) to making your college dorm room look more like a home and less like a prison cell.
Light is hands-down the most important part of the room. Most dorm roo...
How to Help Your Kid During the College Application Process
Having met with hundreds of prospective college students and their families during my career as a college admissions director, I understand and appreciate the time parents have spent helping their student navigate the exciting, but often overwhelming, college search process. Once your student has developed a list of schools to apply to, work together to ensure successful submission of the applications. Below, please find five helpful tips for the college application process.
My Mother-In-Law and Me: How We Came to Be Close
I met my mother-in-law some thirty years ago. If I said it was love at first sight for either one of us, I’d be lying. After all, I had come to take her son, a much beloved son she had borne late in life, and she was naturally wary. I understood that then and being the mother of three sons, I understand it even better now.
[image error]
But, there we were.
So, when my husband told his mother that I was the one, she said the three words that every young man wants to hear from his mother upon imparting such...
How to Battle Against a Teen’s Sense of Entitlement
Why do I hate living in this community, given how hard we have worked for the rewards of our life? The reason has to do with the sense of entitlement here which is limitless. Children are just given too much, too soon.
My husband and I have lived in South Florida for most of our lives. I love Florida and I love where we live but sometimes living here and raising teenagers in this affluent community comes with a cost.
I was raised in a middle class household one town over from where we cu...
On the Cusp of Graduation, the Fading of My Childhood Room
“They came to sit and dangle their feet off the edge of the world and after a while they forgot everything but the good and true things they would do someday.” –Brian Andreas
Exploring my childhood room is like doing an ethnographic study of myself. I wonder why I chose to frame the photos I did, and smell the super nostalgic yet strangely unfamiliar scents of my old body scrubs. Feeling the distinct water pressure in my shower, I flash back to the stressful mornings when I would have five mi...
April 3, 2017
How Can Teenagers Know Everything and Nothing?
Teenagers fool us with their size, vocabulary, and swift mastery of new devices. They seem to be about the right shape to fit into the adult world. They drive cars. They know algebra. So it’s always momentarily shocking to find out that they don’t know how to address an envelope or operate a can opener.
My kids are the only people in my house who are as smart as my smart TV. I honestly have to enlist their help every time I want to change the channel. They know how to work Netflix, and they...
Living in the Leaving Period: Life After Graduation
A year ago, a friend of mine whose child had just graduated from high school suggested I write an article about this big milestone. I thought about it and decided to wait. It would have been like writing a guidebook about Paris based on internet research, without actually going there and seeing the light, smelling the bread. A year later, my son has just graduated from high school. Let’s just say I’ve seen the light. I assume that’s why there are tears in my eyes all the time.
Okay, not al...
