Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 450

I Don’t Mean To Nag My Kids, But….

They may have left home. They may be in college or working. They may be sitting on the edge of adulthood, but I am still their mother. While, in theory, I believe that parents should not nag their grown kids, there are times when I just cannot help myself.

Vote. Join the Democracy.

Our kids may live in a hyper connected world but one thing they have not connected with is democracy. The youngest eligible voters have the worst voting record with only 45% of 18-29 year olds exercising their rig...

A Partially Empty Nest…Maybe it’s Not So Bad

I’ve got a secret to share with you. For a while, I thought I was a terrible mother.

It’s true. I want you to know that I was honest when I said I would miss my daughter when she went off to college. I truly do miss her. It was out-and-out heart-break when we dropped her off. That wasn’t a lie. Nor was it a lie when I said life would change dramatically when she was away and we were left behind. But that dramatic change? I’m not going to lie, a partially empty nest hasn’tbeen all that bad.

...

5 Ways to Lower Your Teen’s Stress When Discussing College

Talking with your high school junior or senior about college can be frustrating. Parents probe, teens need privacy and aren’t really into discussing a highly stressful part of their lives.

“My sons would clam up or shut down the minute the topic of college applications was broached. The more questions I asked, the less they wanted to talk. They wanted to do this themselves,” recalls Hatsy Vallar, a mother from Bedford Corners, New York, who has two sons in college and one applying now.

For V...

Never Ask a Teen These College Questions

Adults know that high school is stressful. They know that teens spend too much time on homework and too little time sleeping, and often live on an emotional knife’s edge.

And still, they can’t resist asking questions that only make things worse. Watch the kids in this video express how they felt when they were being peppered with college questions by well-meaning adults during their senior year. (They appear after the ad.)

Alice Kleeman, a recently retired college adviser at Menlo-Atherton H...

Home Alone: How a Youngest Child Copes As Sibs Depart

People told me that if I could live through raising teenage girls, the boy would be nice to me.

Those people lied.

This kid of mine, the youngest child and last one home, the boy who would crawl in bed and watch Sports Center with us, squishing his 6 ft frame between his incredible shrinking parents, has turned. He used to talk about sports and music and school and really, really dumb YouTube videos.

Now he says nothing at all. And I can’t stand it.

It took 51 one years, but I am finally out...

Finding the Right Colleges for You: Excerpt and Review

College-bound high school students devote countless hours to building “their lists,” the dozen or so schools to which they will ultimately apply. To get to their magic number, teenagers research and visit schools while, simultaneously, they look inward to see where their credentials and interests are most likely to match college requirements.

There is nothing easy or simple about either of these two tasks.

Hélène Tragos Stelian, author, mentor, and mom of twin high school seniors, has written...

Favorite Gifts for College Care Packages

It’s prime college care package season: By October, college kids are deep into midterms, family weekend may have come and gone, and Thanksgiving is weeks away. For parents looking to lift their college kid’s spirits or send a bit of love, a care package is just the right thing. Many companies and schools offer pre-made packages but for a personal touch, here are a few tried-and-true hits.

Food, food and more food.

Snacks are at the top of the list for any care package. If you are a baker, by...

15 Lessons Kids Learn From Sports

My kids have played sports all their lives. They started as toddlers and still play in college. For many years I saw this as a physically healthy pastime that would teach them something about being a part of a group larger than themselves. I thought teammates would teach them teamwork. I thought that from good coaching they would learn to be coachable.

And, oh the memories…from personal bests on cross-country trails to hitting the game winning run in little league, to agonizing last second de...

The Surprise of Letting Go

While the cat climbed in and out of his unzipped bags, and I handed him folded t-shirts, our son Sam finished packing for his return to college. At his request, he would travel back alone to start his junior year.

Around the edges of our casual conversation lurked my unasked questions. As the opportunity to voice them began to shrink, I set them free.

“So, when you arrive at the dorm, who will already be there?”

“A couple of people.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, don’t worry about it.”

“Seriously.”

...

Freshmen: Emotionally Underprepared for College

As parents we worry. Are our kids ready for college? Are they academically prepared? Are they socially ready? Are they independent enough to live without us?

A Harris poll conducted this spring (See Infographic Below) byThe JED Foundation, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and The Jordan Porco Foundation looked at the experience of over 1,500 freshmen.

The results were surprising.

Fully 60% of the students surveyed wished they had received more emotional preparation in getting ready for colleg...