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
Cozy Quarters: Comfortable, Inspired Dorm Living
College life means living in spaces that can be a bit of a tight squeeze. But with a little creativity, a dorm room can become your student’s home sweet home in no time!
Parenting in a Material World
How do we parent older kids effectively in a material world?
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
Life Skills: How to Organize Paperwork
As the days move closer to our daughter’s college move-in day, I start to get a little worried that we haven’t taught her all the life skills she’ll need when she’s off on her own. She can cook. She knows how to sort laundry. She seems to have a pulse on basic money management. So what are we missing? One