Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 428

How to Save Money When Buying College Textbooks

Barnes and Noble has been in the bookselling business since 1886 and we are grateful to them for sponsoring this post on college textbooks. All content and opinions expressed here are our own.

The gargantuan expense of college is not limited to tuition, room and board. Outfitting a dorm room and buying textbooks can add thousands of dollars to the sky-high price tag of sending a teen to university. While dorm shopping is usually a joint-effort between parents and students, buying textbooks is...

Last Minute Items NOT TO FORGET on the College Packing List

Your college student is nearly done packing. There is a pile of their belongings growing higher every day in the corner of their bedroom and the college packing list is largely checked off. Before you load up the car, make sure you have not forgotten these much-needed items. We have included a few just for fun!

10 Last-Minute Things to Remember for Your Kid’s College Packing List

1.Watertight Packable Rain Jacket[image error]

For years my kids ran from the school bus or car into their middle school and hi...

Freshman Dean Offers Best Advice For College Students

Here are 10 essential pieces of advice for college students from a Freshman Dean:

1. Arrive ten minutes early to anything scheduled.

It will decrease stress and give you the chance to negotiate any unforeseen issues. People will remember this. On the rarity that you’re running late, call ahead to the appropriate person.

2. There are no short-cuts to quality.

Know and fulfill your responsibilities whether for a course, extra-curricular, relationship, or job. Quality requires your attention and...

What Your Mom REALLY Wanted You to Know that Day Dorm Shopping

To Incoming College Freshmen (Rolling Your Eyes at Your Mom Dorm Room Shopping)

Yes it is brutally hot here in August, and yes you would rather be swimming, watching Netflix or playing Pokemon Go than shopping with your Mom for college bedding late in the afternoon. News flash…. your Mom is hot and tired too, but hey, she loves you, and she is bursting with emotions that have been building up over the past 18 years for what is about to happen in the next couple of weeks when she drops you off...

It’s OK to Be Happy When Your Child Goes to College

My son is leaving for college next week. And I am happy. Does that make me a bad mom?

I spent my son’s whole high school career preparing myself for this day. When he graduated from the sixth grade, I warned myself, “Only seven more to go.” When he started his freshman year, I reminded myself “These years go by so fast! Hang on! He’ll be graduating before you know it!” When his junior year rolled around, I was almost hysterical. “One more year left!” And then finally, that dreaded senior year...

My Youngest Son Lives His Life Out Loud

My seventeen-year-old son catcalled a forty-eight year old woman the other day. Okay, so he didn’t technically catcall her. And I don’t really know the exact age of this particular woman, but I’m pretty sure she was older than me. If only by a year.

Walking alongside my son in the parking lot of the hardware store, talking about birdseed one second, and then in the next, I’m basically witnessing what can only be described as his blatant equivalent of catcalling. It’s fair to say, in that mome...

To My Freshman Daughter: The Most Important Thing to Remember

I sat down to write my daughter “that letter.”

You know the one.

That letter that every parent who has a child taking wing feels compelled to write… even those who don’t end up writing it.

That one that includes a last bit of sage advice mixed with humor, tenderness and love that you just know your child will cherish forever.

[More on what NOT to say at college drop off here.]

That letter that will be crumpled and yellow from so many readings.

That one that will move your child from tears to...

Take Time to Grieve When You Drop Your Kids at College

I remember four years ago August very clearly. The focus was on my oldest daughter Carly going off to college. She was only going an hour away to Monmouth University, but I still felt sad that she wouldn’t be living at home anymore. Don’t get me wrong; I also felt happy, proud and excited as well, but grief was the emotion that I was feeling the strongest.

I truly needed someone to listen to me but had trouble finding people who would just listen. Instead, when I did share about my feelings o...

Dear Jack: 12 Reminders as You Leave for College

Dear Jack,

I am supposed to write you a very heartfelt, and dramatic going away to college letter. I am supposed to place it under your dorm room pillow for you to find. Yes, one of the too many pillows I put on your bed as you rolled your eyes and insisted you only need one, but then later – probably as you are reading this propped up said to yourself “daaaaamn my mom was right again. I DO need this extra pillow.”

This letter is a requirement to earn my Mom Badge (which is like the Eagle Sc...

Why a Mom is the Most Valuable Asset to Getting Through College

After two days of trips to Target andBed Bath & Beyond,my mom finally agreed that I had everything I needed, and that it was time for her and my dad to journey back to the hotel.

We made it out to the dorm parking lot, and she pulled me in for one last squeeze. After what felt like hours, she released her grip, wiped her tears, and entered the passenger’s seat of the rental car. I walked back into my dorm, struggling to contain my excitement. I felt freer than I had ever felt in my life.

[M...