A week from today we will be on I-5, heading to Southern California to get Jennifer Lynn moved into her dorm room at college. Other parents I talk to tell me that yes, it’s hard when your youngest child leaves home but that you get used to it, and in [...]
When our daughter, Valerie, was home this summer after her first year away at college, it was much more like hosting a really messy houseguest than having a member of the family living with us. Actually, this was a good thing – not the messy part – but the sense [...]
College can be a time of life when kids experiment with lifestyles that are different than their parents. Our daughter who is a freshman at a smallish private university in Southern California seems to be doing just that. However, unlike many kids who really try out some risky behavior just [...]
Last fall, when our daughter, Valerie, went away to college in Southern California, she decided not to take her car with her. She said she didn’t want the responsibility that went along with having a car at the same time she was getting adjusted to living away from [...]
When Valerie went away to college, I thought we had plenty of ways to stay in touch with her; we could send text messages, chat on FaceBook, send emails, call on the phone or send the occasional care package and note through the mail. Although I had heard other parents [...]
As a parent, it’s rewarding to see your children become self sufficient and independent. But when you are watching them do it from a distance, it is also a little nerve-racking. Like this weekend for example…our daughter, Valerie, who has been in school for a little more than a month [...]
Last week, I got a postcard from Nordstrom Rack announcing that a new shipment of shoes would be arriving in the stores. I got a pang in my stomach when I read it…and not because I need another pair of black pumps. The reason an ad from Nordstrom Rack was [...]
This is Valerie’s third weekend away at college; it may be to soon to know for sure, but it sounds to us like the worst of her homesickness is behind her and she has turned the corner on adjusting to her new world without a room of her own, a [...]
Valerie is now in her second week away at college and still wondering, “When will college start being fun?” She has been meeting people, but she hasn’t bonded with anyone who she thinks will be a BFF. Again, we remind her that she has only been there two weeks. She [...]
Our daughter, Valerie, has a case of buyer’s remorse. Steve moved Valerie into her dorm room at Chapman University in Southern California six days ago and she is questioning her decision to go away to college. “Oh my gosh, what was I thinking? I’m living with total strangers, I miss [...]