Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 446
January 14, 2016
2016 Reading Challenge: Books for You!
Is reading more books a goal you have this year? Perhaps you’ve seen this 2016 Reading Challenge, and you’re both eager to get started but also a bit intimated. Well, pull out your favorite bookmark and get ready to read, because I’ve got some reading tips and book recommendations to help you successfully navigate and complete the challenge.
Go ahead and put this one off until the fall. Typically, large publishing houses publish and release...
What Kind of Facebook Parent are You?
It’s all over but the waiting. That’s the feeling for parents of high school seniors, whose beloved children hurled the last application over the transom sometime in the past few weeks. Maybe there’s an Early Decision 2 notification looming but for the most part, from now until end of March is downtime, a waiting game, tenterhooks and pins and needles.
I know! Let’s use it to play a game. We can call it:
Because as soon as thos...
January 13, 2016
My Empty Nest: What Surprised Me Most
Technically, I don’t yet have an empty nest. One of my college graduates is still living at home, but with the amount of time I get to spend with her, it’s really the same thing. The oldest has her own apartment, and the younger two are both in college (one started this past August). Knowing my life was going to change dramatically, my friends and family started to show concern last spring. I assured them all I would be fine. I was right, but there have been several things that I didn’t expec...
The Crushing Culture of Parental Expectations
We need to choose our words carefully especially those we offer our children. I’d like to think it was carelessness rather than thoughtlessness that led me to create a culture of crushing parental expectations. Over the years I developed a habit of saying things to my sons like, “You’re going to do great things.” or, “You’re going places, kid.” I expressed these types of sentiments in an effort to demonstrate to my children that I had confidence in them and their abilities. I also said these...
January 12, 2016
The Perspective Slap: “This is Your Home.”
A few days after Christmas, I got a perspective slap. If you’ve ever had one, you know what I’m talking about. They come out of nowhere, smack you out of your “woe is me” state, and leave you a more humble and grateful person. I got mine, strangely enough, in the parking lot of a Big Lots store.
I was there to see what was on clearance, and was looking specifically for a set of snowman ornaments that I had seen before Christmas, but had told myself I could wait to buy until they were half of...
January 11, 2016
10 Academic Mistakes of College Freshmen (and How to Do Better!)
With the first semester wrapped up, perhaps you’ve discovered that your college students are running amuck. Maybe deficiency notices have arrived in the mail or academic suspension is on the horizon. Or maybe your star students are just not performing at the level that won them their college placement. What happened to all that drive and determination they left home with? Did they stumble this fall, making one (or more) of these ten college freshmen academic mistakes?
If your college student...
January 7, 2016
If College is a Gift, is it “No Strings Attached?”
College is a gift. I said that to my sons while they were in high school and I repeated it to them, ad nauseam, once they got to college. I wanted them to know that four years of focusing almost entirely on themselves was not an experience most people were lucky enough to have.
I made sure they understood that the chance to wander through your days in a fog of self-absorption, is not a God-given right. The day would come, I warned them, when they would need to earn a living, care for others...
To Parents of High School Seniors: 9 Important Reminders
Over the years, I have been on the receiving end of panicked calls and inquiries from friends who are parents of high school seniors. They arepreparing to send their child, often their first, off to collegeandmaybe they call because I have been talking about the impending empty nest for a long time (my first child’s departure for college was over eight years ago). Perhaps they know I will be sympathetic, happy to talk about thoughts and emotions that are incredibly personal and, without a dou...
Tips for Healthy Eating & Fitness Habits for College Students
College can wreak havoc on a student’s body. Between all-you-can-eat dining hall buffets, unhealthy but oh-so-tempting food options on campus, irregular schedules and sleep patterns, increased alcohol consumption, decreased physical activity, stress, and limited finances, it can be all too easy for college students to inadvertently develop unhealthy eating habits and pack on the pounds.
A healthy diet and lifestyle play a big role in mental and physical well-being, including increasing energ...
The Best Things About Being a Parent Never Change
So much about being a parent has changed as my kids have reached college age and beyond. They are independent with lives that happen mostly away from me. Much of what I know about their daily existence comes from what they tell me, a far cry from when their bedroom was in our home.
In some ways I have changed. I have tried to watch more and talk less. I have tried to take my fingerprints off of their lives. Yet some of the most wondrous parts of parenthood remain largely untouched.
I can star...
