Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 438

What Happens to the Third Child When Older Siblings Leave

By the time my third child arrived I had overcome the common parental concern that I wouldn’t be able to love an additional child as much as the first. I knew there was plenty of space in my heart for the little one we now refer to as Peach. But there never seemed to be enough time or patience to express my love for my third child in the ways I did for the others.

There were no private tea parties, no quiet cuddling sessions, and certainly no attendance at weekly baby group. Bedtime reading w...

Gap Year: 3 Things You Need to Think About First

Malia Obama is taking a gap year, and the news has made high school juniors and seniors everywhere consider this exciting option for themselves. Who wouldn’t want to put off the academic grind to travel the world, explore interests or make a difference in a community? But a gap year isn’t always the right answer, and careful consideration needs to be made in determining if it is the best path.

Educators support the gap year, reporting that gappers bring more to their campuses and often get m...

When Your “Baby” is Home From College

Remember bringing your baby home – those first few days of feeling simultaneously elated and exhausted? Remember feeling overwhelmed, excited, delighted, and a little apprehensive? It’s an emotional time. But I’m not talking about bringing your new baby home from the hospital. I’m talking about bringing your baby home from college.

At first glance, it might seem like there is a tremendous difference between an infant and a 19-year-old, but there are actually several ways that having your kid...

On the College Track: My Son’s Goals or Mine?

When I was in high school, I didn’t think much about my future, other than the fact that in the near term, I knew I was going to college. In my family, college was not an aspiration, but a given. If I had even uttered the words “gap year” or expressed any doubt about going to college, I’m pretty sure both of my parents would have thought I’d lost my mind. With expectations that the college track was mandatory, most likely followed by graduate school, there was simply no room for considering a...

Note to Self: On Parenting College Kids

Remember how fast they changed when they were babies? College kids are in the infancy of adulthood.

It is so easy to start a sentence, “When I was in college…” And so hard to face the fact that the world has changed too much for almost anything that follows to be relevant.

Family time is not less important now that they are in college, it is more important.

If our children graduate from college having learned to think critically, act kindly and somehow support themselves financially, every p...

Best High School Graduation Gifts 2016: Part 2

Graduation gifts are different than presents for other occasions. You want a gift for a college-bound son or daughter, niece, nephew or friend, to be personal, convey meaning, or have utility on campus this fall. Graduating from high school is a milestone that separates a student’s childhood from the future as an adult. A gift acknowledges this coming of age moment, so we want it to be special.

We came up with loads of ideas and, if you haven’t seen Part 1 of our list, here it is. Here’s Part...

Best High School Graduation Gifts 2016: Part 1

We have gathered a list of high school graduation gifts that look forward and backward. Gifts that have been in the family for generations or quilts made of T-shirted memories recall so much of what our kids are leaving behind. With these, they will have a bit of home traveling with them as they leave. We also look forward to their new adventure, aswe send them on their way with gifts to keep them safe, happy and healthy.

Graduating from high school is a special moment and we hope each of the...

Financial Aid Questions? Money Magazine Expert Has Answers

Paying for school is a stressful, confusing, and expensive part of the college process. Fortunately, there is an expert like Kim Clark, Senior Writer at Money Magazine, who has spent the last decade examining and writing about financial aid and other ways that families can make college more affordable. Clark recently spoke with Lisa in a Facebook Livestream and answered many of our Grown and Flown readers’ questions.

Here are her written responses to several of those financial aid questions....

Shelter in Place: When Tragedy Strikes Your Kid’s Campus

Yesterday, in the midst of a beautiful, not a cloud in the sky kind of day, the kind of day that makes you happy to be alive, I get a text from my college age son. It’s a text which he’s received from his school’s emergency warning system:

With my heart in my throat, I quickly text back, “Are you in a place you feel safe?”
“I think so. I’m in class. In the basement of a building,” he responds.

My husband who is also on the thread tells him to, “sit tight.” He asks what class he’s in and ou...

The Confusing Summer of “I Don’t Know”

In a corner of my bookcase, I keep old reference materials that once meant something important. They include the 2011 Barron’s Profile of American Colleges which weighs five-and-a-half pounds. Still affixed to several of its 1600 pages are post-it flags representing a college choice for our son Sam, who was junior that year.

Hanging around in my writing room recently, Sam found the book and hoisted it. “God,” he said.”Remember this thing?”

There are some moments I recall in full only after th...