Lisa Endlich's Blog

The pharmacist in me made up a First Aid Kit and supply list for my son, which I put in a plastic box for him to take to the dorm. I also included instructions on what to take/use for what ailment and how to do so safely. It seemed like a ton of stuff, but our son was 11 hours from home.

Here is the most complete first-aid kit list you will ever find. (Credit: Target)

I did the same things for our daughter when she went away to school. Funny thing that both of my kids thought it was over the to...

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Here are easy ways to decorate and organize a guy’s dorm room. (Credit: C Kidd)

As you and your soon-to-be college son start to think about his life in a dorm room in the fall, begin to make a list of ideas of ideas including some of the things we’ve listed below. However, before you buy anything read this list of Dorm Shopping: 50 Questions to ...

Somewhere along the way, pre-med stopped being a college path and became a teenage identity. If a student is considering medicine, there are many steps, requirements, and signals of seriousness. They take the right classes, demonstrate aptitude, and show commitment over time.

My daughter has always leaned toward medicine. (Photo credit: Robin Horrigan)

They join organizations which exist, in part, to shepherd students through the process. And then, at some point, they can spend a day in a hospit...

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Between the cramped, shared living quarters and old-school décor, dorm living can pose quite a challenge for any college student. Most dorm beds come with size Twin XL mattresses and frames, so your teen will need their sheets to fit the mattress, meaning they’ll likely have to buy a new set or two.

They’ll also want them to fit their sleeping s...

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The Amazon Memorial Day Sale runs through Tuesday, May 26th. We looked through all our recent Grown and Flown bestsellers to find good deals on the most popular things. Many of these finds are just in time for dorm/college apartment shopping and are also pretty perfect for grad gifts, too.

Memorial Day is a great time to shop for your family esp...

We are a reader-supported site and receive compensation from purchases made through these links. See more about our Privacy and Affiliate policies here.

The Amazon Memorial Day Sale runs through Tuesday, May 26th. We looked through all our recent Grown and Flown bestsellers to find good deals on the most popular things. Many of these finds are just in time for dorm/college apartment shopping and are also pretty perfect for grad gifts, too.

Take advantage of Memorial Day sales if you’re buying do...

I almost didn’t notice it happening. My son was home for a long weekend, sophomore year of college, and I was mid-sentence, telling him what I thought he should do about a thing with his roommate. I’d been workshopping my advice since he texted me about it two days earlier. I had angles. I had a whole sequence of questions designed to guide him toward the answer I’d already decided was right.

Between my son’s freshman and sophomore year of college he stopped needing me as much. (Shutterstock fiz...

I am a really lucky mom. I have two amazing sons who have lived through a life trauma with
me, and as we heal, we have developed a really amazing friendship that complements our parent-child relationship. We lost my husband, their father, four years ago as my oldest was starting college and my youngest was starting his sophomore year of high school. It was the darkest, most difficult time in our lives, and we all struggled to find our way forward, individually and as a family.

After losing their ...

I knew it was coming, the final school year commuting with my son. Next year he’d drive himself to school. One decade of daily round-trips together was quietly coming to an end. Earlier in the year as a new freshman, all he could talk about was his goal to save up money for a car. He would strategize daily and had taken a job at a local trampoline park to stack away cash as quickly as possible.

Our son wasn’t allowed to drive until he could afford it himself, including gas and insurance. (Photo ...

The first time I watched the 3-hour videotape of my 1997 wedding was probably in 1998. Just like Keira Knightley in “Love Actually,” I declared it “a complete disaster.” Inaudible vows. Nausea-inducing camera wobbles. And did I mention—three hours long?

Twenty-nine years later my kids and I couldn’t get enough of my wedding video’s unintentional context that any editor would have cut. (Photo Credit: Carrie Kirby)

Of course, in 1997, my uncle had no way to edit his footage. He simply had it copie...