‘Tis the season…for homesickness

Your phone buzzes. You’re thrilled when you see it’s a text from your child—the one you dropped off at college four weeks ago. But, when you open the message, your heart sinks. I hate it here. I have no friends. I want to come home.
 The collegiate honeymoon is over. Your child is homesick. And this text seems to come

Leaning Into The Curves

This is not how it’s supposed to be, I thought as my husband and I packed up our daughter’s belongings from her dorm room. I choked back tears as I boxed up her barely used Keurig and like-new text books, her fluffy white comforter and coordinating desk lamp. These same items—so full of promise and possibility when we helped her

A year to remember!

I cannot believe it has been a whole year since we launched Out to Sea: A Parents’ Survival Guide to the Freshman Voyage. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I’m overwhelmed by your positive feedback and cannot thank you enough for taking the time to share your stories with me. I’m so grateful for your support and

The Launch

A gentle reminder for parents who are struggling to let go…

‘Twas the night before move-in day…

‘Tis the season! You know…the one where parents of first time college students are both excited and terrified at the same time. Where we are thrilled they have the opportunity to grow their minds and attend institutions of higher learning, yet worry that they won’t know how to do their own laundry. Where we fuss about coordinating comforters and twin

Welcome to PARENT UNIVERSITY!

What to Expect: A Course Catalog for Parents After the little plus sign appeared on the stick oh-so-many years ago, the first thing I did was to go out and buy a pregnancy book. The second was to sign up for childbirth classes. I wanted to know what to expect. As our family grew, so did our quest for parenting

Parents, don’t skip (orientation) class!

Last week I attended two college orientation experiences—the first one as a mom of a rising freshman and the second sitting on a panel of “seasoned” parents and college experts, offering advice to parents of incoming first year students. Why both, you ask? Well, the truth is I am a mom of an incoming freshman at one university and I