- Columns & essays, Friendship and relationship advice, Motherhood, Parenting advice, relationships, social skills
Survival tips for grads
At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros.” ~Paul Freund Like most moms, I spent years lecturing my kid on the importance of working hard, eating healthy meals, writing thank-you notes, and ironing his dress shirts. But I neglected to impart other words of wisdom along the way. That’s why I wrote the following list of graduation “survival tips” and shared them in my local newspaper column before my son left home for college in 2004. Big congrats to all the new graduates this season! “A Survival Guide for Grads” *Relationships, like cars,…
-
Happy Mother’s Day
“Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you’re not sure what the right thing is…and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong.” ~Donna Ball Photo by Cindy La Ferle
- Christmas, grieving during the holidays, Holidays, Metro Parent magazine, Parenting advice, Photo stories, Where I'm published
Coping with the Christmas blues?
“Behind the polite smiles and greetings people give you, some are hurting and lonely. We can’t always see people’s pain, but they can always feel our kindness.”~Marc & Angel Hack Life The winter holidays have arrived. Christmas carols play nonstop, advertisers urge us to keep on shopping, and everyone’s asking, “What are you doing for the holidays?” But what if you’re grieving a death in the family or facing other difficult changes? That’s why I’m revisiting a “Holiday Blues” feature I wrote for Metro Parent a few weeks before the pandemic. It includes advice from a psychologist who specializes in grief and loss. You can read it here. Photo: Cindy La Ferle
-
Preparing for the empty nest: An essay about letting go
“It is not what you do for your children; it’s what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.” ~Ann Landers As I post this, a good friend is on the expressway, driving her only daughter to start her first week of college in another state. I’m reminded of an essay I wrote a few weeks later after I settled into my newly emptied nest. The piece was first published in Metro Parent magazine, and later republished in Guideposts. To read it online, click here. Today our son is a married man with a family of his own — yet the topic of launching our kids to adulthood…
-
Metro Parent Essay: Becoming Grandma
“Grandparents are there to help the child get into mischief they haven’t thought of yet.” ~Gene Perret Our new grandson, William George, was born in December 2019. Before he arrived, I wrote an essay for Metro Parent, reflecting on my hopes and dreams, what it means to be a good grandparent. You can read it here. ~Cindy La Ferle