Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 459
March 30, 2015
Dear Parent of Newly Admitted College Freshman
Congratulations to you, yes, to you. Although your high school senior has certainly worked hard to be recognized by their college admissions office, we parents know that no kid does it alone. Almost two decades of loving support is what led your teen to this day, so amidst the shouts of glee and the excitement you and your newly admitted college freshman are feeling, stop for one moment, raise your left hand and with your right hand give it a high-five. Then begin to embrace the very differen...
March 27, 2015
Meg Jay: “Why Thirty is Not the New Twenty”
If you have a twentysomething kid, or think you might ever have one, Dr. Meg Jayhas a message that should not be missed by our children, or us. Jay is a clinical psychologist in private practice, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Virginia and the author of The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now
I got married at thirty and, before that decade was out, had given birth to three kids, quit my career, resumed my career, restarted a dif...
March 24, 2015
Help, My Kids Don’t Call Me Back
My kids don’t always respond to my calls or texts. I know, shocking, right? It turns out that I am not the only one with offspring who are slow to respond. In utter desperation, we have gathered together a list of tactics for parents who find themselves unable to gain the attention of their wayward teens or young adults. Some of these tactics are serious, but most are idle threats to wave at your kids as needed. All can be used when you kids don’t call you back.
Text your kids that their tax...
March 18, 2015
March of the Juniors
Every year around this time I have a talk about stress and anxiety with my junior year A.P. students. Most of these students are your typical high achievers. They have been working toward college for as long as they can remember. Many of the juniors know where they will apply, and have known the grades they need and the test scores they need to achieve, since middle school. Many of them are taking 4 or 5 Advanced Placement classes, are involved in clubs and sports, and have a part-time job. T...
March 14, 2015
Does it Matter Where You Go to College?
The college admissions process was like a filthy dark fog that descended on my home after Christmas when my oldest son was a junior in high school and did not lift until my youngest son was a senior. Like the insidious smog that covered LA during my childhood, this process was toxic and clouded my vision. And like the smog, although we survived it, and almost came to accept it as normal, it is only now, after the fact, that its ill effects can be seen.
For many families, the college admissio...
March 13, 2015
10 Tips to Get Your Writing Published Online
We recently attended BAM: Bloggers at Midlife and participated in a panel discussion, moderated by Susan Maccarelli of Beyond Your Blog, thatincluded Melissa T. Schultz and Elaine Ambrose.Our number one suggestion for how to get your writing published online on sites other than your own blog is to follow Susan! Here are ten other ideas that have helped us along the way.
Open submissions are great and there is no doubt that you can get published th...
March 12, 2015
The Teenage Brain: What Parents Need to Know
The teenage brain is not just an adult brain with fewer miles on it,” says Frances E. Jensen, a professor of neurology. “It’s a paradoxical time of development. These are people with very sharp brains, but they’re not quite sure what to do with them.”
Thinking back on my children, working their way through middle school, I recall changes in them that felt abrupt. One night I read Harry Potter to my son, tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. The next morning, in walked a stranger, a lanky im...
March 4, 2015
The Greatest Unexpected Pleasures of Parenting
Grown and Flown asked 15 women to share their greatest unexpected pleasure of parenting. Here are their honest, funny, and straight-from-the-heart answers.
Lindsey Mead
March 2, 2015
Teen Stress: What Parents Need to Know
Eleventh grade felt like the 7th circle of Hell, a place so sinister and drained of joy that I despaired of my kids or I ever emerging from it. Although frankly, I may have felt their teen stress more acutely than they did, I worried about my boys. They are young, and while I had learned coping mechanisms for stress, they were still finding their way.
Soon I came to see that my job was two-fold. As one of the two people who loved them most in this world, I wanted to help ease them through th...
February 25, 2015
The Maze of Teen Dating
Aggie Mannix, lawyer, independent college counselor and mother of three, writes about the maze of teen dating:
Dating is confusing enough when you are the one making thechoices, but it can seem downright perilous watching your son ordaughter in the labyrinth. Do you set rules? For them? For you? Learning thedating verbiage (wasn’t it easier when there were bases?) understanding theimpact of social media and staying aware of shifting cultural mores seemed surmountable obstacles compared to det...
