I’ve always suffered from HBDD: Holiday Big Deal Disorder. It’s not that I feel the need to make every holiday or birthday or special occasion a bit overblown, it’s that I want to. Let’s put it this way, if themed decorations are involved, so am I. So when my daughter went to college and I was faced with an entire calendar year of holidays she’d miss out on, I knew there was only one solution: I’d have to get the holiday to her. Sending your college kid a quick, surprise care package box ... View the Post
About Michelle Newman
How to Host a College College Care Package Party: 12 Easy Steps
Sending care packages to your college kid can be as hard or as easy as you make it. Hard if you make the mistake of trolling Pinterest for ideas and discover that there are people out there who construct entire boxes around a theme and make veritable scrapbook pages out of the box flaps (Bravo, seriously... but who has that kind of time?) It can be easy if you just, well, stay the hell away from Pinterest. Another way making packages can be effortless? Get your friends to make them for you! ... View the Post
Before You Return to Your Empty Nest, Embrace it Somewhere Else
Last week, after dropping our baby at college in Connecticut over 1,300 miles away (1,330 to be exact, although 1,300 sounds so much better…and closer), my husband and I escaped to Cape Cod for a three day vacation to celebrate our freedom, toast our parenting success, and kick off this new and exciting chapter in our lives. Eh, let’s be honest, the trip was really about denial, distraction, and postponing the inevitable return to a very empty and quiet house. Empty Nest Trip: After ... View the Post
Real Advice For College Move-In Day: 11 Things NOT to Do
Move in day sucks. There’s just really no other way to put it. The chaos, the details, the heat, the stress, the mess, the emotions, the realization that over half of what you bought and brought will no way fit in the jail cell sized room – it’s a DAY, let me tell you. We know there are things you might be expecting to do. Things you’ll be dying to do. And most likely, these are the exact things you should absolutely, definitively not do. Sure, there are countless articles offering ... View the Post
Eco-Friendly Gift Guide for Teens and College Students
Many people like to criticize the current generation of teens and young adults for being lazy and too self-involved. It’s certainly a popular opinion that all they do is stare at their screens and are only concerned with the proper angle for taking selfies (it’s just a bit higher than your face, in case you’re wondering). But I think it’s actually the youth that are the ones who are opening the eyes of the older generations to some critically important issues facing our world today. Thanks to ... View the Post
The Summer Before College Drop-Off: 10 Things NOT to Do
Graduation came, graduation went. Now what? If you’re like me you may find yourself wandering around aimlessly, wondering how the heck that date on the calendar that’s been coming at you in warp speed since September actually, finally got here. For the past few months you’ve had such purpose! Such drive! And whether you checked the 157 tasks off your graduation to-do list efficiently or did it all at the last minute (and ignored like 154 of them), you might find yourself at a bit of a loss ... View the Post