High School

In my mind, by the time my son got to his SENIOR year in high school, I would feel like a professional parent, right? By now, we have survived the newborn phase, toddlerhood, middle-aged weirdness, AND even pre-teen and teen drama. Although we have experienced a lot together over the years, this year has a lot of new - final athletic seasons, graduation, and college applications to name a few. As this year begins, in my gut I am excited. Excited to see my son grow and bloom into the young adult he is turning into. Excited to see him conquer his hard classes and a fun athletic season. Excited for the rest of our family to gather around and...

High school ... it can be the best of times and it can be the worst of times. I entered the era of parenting a high school student last year, and below are a few practical tips to help ease the transition for both you and your budding freshman. 1. You are Not the Student While this one seems blatantly obvious, it is something I had to remind myself of over and over throughout the school year. All parents have hopes, dreams and aspirations for their child. However, high school is the time where teenagers come into their own skin. Inevitably their desires will not align with yours during the journey. Insisting your child continue to pursue a class / sport...

It’s Back to School Time I always feel a little anxiety as school begins for the fall. My oldest starts first grade!! He was just a baby. A new teacher, a new grade, and so many hopes and dreams. Will the teacher like my son? Will my son like his teacher? Will he enjoy his classes? Am I prepared for the fall? Is my son ready to go? I always have to sit down and make a checklist. I’ll share my list with you. School Uniforms: How many do I have? Do I have enough for the fall and winter? (There will be spaghetti day.) What’s the jacket situation like? Do we need new shoes and a new book bag?...

Scholastic preparation for college begins at least by a teenager’s junior year in high school. It is pretty intense, to say the least. On top of junior year in and of itself being a very difficult year academically … add on the college prep and we have ourselves a pretty stressed out teenager. There are many necessities when it comes to getting your junior ready for college. Some of these include SAT/ACT prep and test-taking, choosing a (few) college(s), college visits, college applications, and financial aid applications. A well-informed, thoroughly detailed high school counselor is your greatest weapon during this time … seek them out! But this is just the beginning! Once the details of actually choosing and getting into...

I took a snapshot of my kids this morning. I intend to keep it close by, so it can serve as a benchmark. We have reached a turning point in our family. We have finally arrived at the point in life that most parents of small kids look to with anticipation for what feels like forever. Diapers have all been thrown away. Bottoms are being independently wiped. Mouths are being fed by utensils independently held the correct way (Well, mostly). As parents, we spend so many years training our children up to get to this point. Every time my kid runs her own bathwater, ties his own shoes, or fixes his own bowl of cereal, I almost want to run around the house with...