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Ann Handley

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Teenagers

The College Drop-off: Can We Cut the Crying Parents Some Slack?

Goodbye

A story on MSNBC yesterday asked, Has the college sendoff always been so tough? Alongside the piece is a video from the Today show, subtitled, “As NBC’s Kevin Klein reports, when it comes time to say goodbye on campus, it’s the parents who’ve got issues.” I’ve noticed an abundance of these stories lately — including […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Politics & Society, Teenagers Tagged With: college drop off, college goodbye, Parenting, Teenagers, Velcro parents

A (Sort of) Sentimental Post That I Tried to Make Less So

Yesterday I sat in the stands at my son’s graduation, smack at what would be the face-off line of the covered ice hockey rink, counting the rows of chairs on the floor below and trying to work out which mortarboard was his in a royal blue sea of 440 graduates. All of us parents standing […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: graduation, high school, kids, Parenting, Teenagers

Parent Bingo

My 17-year-old will be in college next year, and right now he and I are deep in the process of applications and school visits and talks that spring up suddenly at dinner or in the car and begin with, “Maybe I should think about…?” or “Have you considered…?” It’s a process that feels very much […]

Filed Under: Children, Parenting, Teenagers, Writing Tagged With: kids, mothers, Parenting, Teenagers, Writing

At a Loss for Words

Mother and son painting

On Thursday, my son finished up his junior year of high school, and today his dad, little sister and I drove him 75 miles to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he’ll spend the next 6 weeks immersed in Art. He’ll spend much of that time muddying his clothes in the ceramics studio, with […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: life passages, mothers, Parenting, RISD, school, summer, Teenagers, transitions

Punked

fresh milk

When the flight attendant advises that passengers place the oxygen mask over their own faces before assisting those traveling with them, I always interpret this imperative more broadly—that I should take care of my own needs first, whether or not I’m strapped into an airplane seat, 30,000 feet in the air. Day to day, this […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Family History, Humor, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: family, kids, milk, Parenting, personal history, practical jokes, punked, Teenagers

Notice to Staff and Stakeholders: Reorg

coddled

Greetings all staff and stakeholders of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises: It has come to my attention that there has been some confusion about your roles and responsibilities within the organization, which has led to infighting, yelling, and name-calling—this happened just yesterday, prior to 7 AM. Such behavior is both unprofessional and upsetting, and it is […]

Filed Under: Children, Humor, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: Business, kids, mothers, parentings, sons, Teenagers

Summer on the Coast of Maine, Doggy-Style

I’m spending this week on the coast of southern Maine. If I had a choice, I’d spend most of the week as I am right now: in a low-slung beach chair, toes buried in the warm sand, and book propped open on my lap, pages ruffled by the strong wind off the water. Every few […]

Filed Under: Business, Children, Dogs, Parenting, Pets, Teenagers, Travel Tagged With: beaches, Dogs, Maine, mothers, Parenting, Pets, Teenagers, Travel

The Shadow Knows: Watching Superbad with My Son

The Shadow Knows

When I was a kid, in the 70s, I used to swipe my older brother’s Mad magazines. A lot of the humor was over my head, but that only added to the allure: This was a peep show into an unknown world, and I was lusting to grow up. One Mad feature I did get, […]

Filed Under: Children, Dogs, Media, Parenting, Secrets, Teenagers Tagged With: kids, magazines, mothers, movies, Parenting, personal history, privacy, Teenagers

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