Big Kid
Thoughts From An Almost-Empty Nest
I never felt like the years were flying by until now, and with my kids finishing up high school, we’re thinking about what comes next after they go.
Big Kid
This is the Way the Break Ends: Both Bangs and Whimpers
I thought I was ready for my college freshman to spend Winter Break with us, but I really had no idea what we were both in for, I guess.
Big Kid
Failure to Launch: Removing the Parental Safety Net
What can be done when a young adult has been enabled by her parents and is now completely immune to failure or consequences?
Big Kid
Rules For When Your College Freshman Visits During Holidays
Getting ready for your college freshman’s first (or first longer) return to home? There’s much for which to be thankful, starting with having a game plan.
Big Kid
D-Day: College Dorm Drop-Off and Beyond
Was the first college dorm drop-off the stuff of legends? Actually, it felt remarkably normal, even as everything is changing, now.
Big Kid
Senior Year: The Last First Day and The First of Many Lasts
I thought getting my oldest off to college was the hardest transition, but now it’s time for the last everything as her little brother heads into senior year.
Big Kid
The Lost Summer? Maybe The Best Summer
While my time of “active parenting” with my kids is drawing to a close, I finally figured out how to make sure the tail end of their childhoods isn’t lost.
Big Kid
Getting Ready for College: Digging Out the Past to Pack for the Future
Who knew that helping my pack rat kid dig out her room before college would actually make me laugh?
Big Kid
The Good, the Bad, and the Dorm
I’ve been focusing so much energy on getting ready to let go of my college freshman, I forgot I was going to have to do a trial run with her brother, first.
Big Kid
When “I’m an Adult!” is Still a Kid in Your House
How do we switch gears from “child we provide for” to “young adult who must provide for herself” in a way that makes sense? In our case, slowly.
Your Life
This is a Story About a Bunch of “Probably Nothing”s
There’s nothing like a few little health scares to make you think about your assumptions and the future.
Big Kid
Post-Graduation and not Looking for The Moment
It seems like there was supposed to be an immediate shift, somewhere in the whole turning-18-and-graduating-high-school thing. But life is full of moments.
Big Kid
Like Spreading Out an Enormous Pile of Rocks
Graduation is almost here, and so are all of the feelings that accompany it. Time to make a to-do list and focus on that, I guess.
Big Kid
College is Looming, But Will We Kill Each Other First?
Oh, those halcyon final days of high school when… your college-bound teen knows everything and you’re just stupid. Yeah. Um. Take a deep breath.
Big Kid
Confessions of a Recovering Naggy McNaggerson
A lifetime of nagging my children in the name of “helping” is coming to a close, because we all need me to back off. It’s hard, but I’m working on it.
Big Kid
Bathroom Remodel: Neurotic Parent of Teens Edition
A remodeling project is always fraught, but throw soon-to-fly-the-coop teens into the mix, and I’m even more neurotic than usual. Surprise.
Big Kid
Hanging on for Dear Life in the River of Busy
In a two-career, two-teenager household, is it possible to step back from an atmosphere of constant “busy?” Maybe not, but I’m trying.
Big Kid
Mother/Daughter Dynamics, On and Off Stage
With just a few months left before my oldest flies the coop, we survived being in a show together (and had a blast).
Big Kid
Push. Pull.
As the clock ticks down on my oldest’s remaining time at home before launch, the pushing and pulling between us intensifies, bittersweet.
Big Kid
Transitioning To An Empty Nest
I finally bought a new car, but is it just a car or the beginning of a bunch of transitions on our way to empty-nest-dom?