At the time that BonBon Break shares this post, the search for Hannah Graham continues. Our hearts go out to Hannah, her family, and the UVA community, as we hope for Hannah’s safe return home. ~Ellie

Image by T.B. Kilman

by Mary Dell Harrington of Grown & Flown

We got a call last Monday night from our daughter at college who began by saying “Mom, I’m ok but…” At that point, my stomach twisted and every nerve in my body began to buzz as I waited for the phrase to follow. Surely something bad had happened.

She told me that one of her classmates had gone missing over the weekend. As I write this, Hannah Graham, 18 years old and a second year student at UVA, has still not been found.

I feel an emotional wrestling match between my protective instincts and my daughter’s new-found independence. I want her to fully enjoy her college years, but as her mom, I cannot help but fear for her safety. Concerns about safety are real – both for parents and college freshman, who are at higher risk for victimization than older students.

How can our daughter and other freshman girls, in particular, best manage legitimate anxiety while embracing an exciting yet still unfamiliar college world? And in the wake of a disappearance of an 18-year old girl, how will the balance between caution and adventure shift?

ABOUT MARY DELL AND LISA: 

Follow Grown & Flown on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+

CONTINUE READING IN THE FAMILY ROOM

The post Daughter At College: What Keeps Me Up At Night first appeared on BonBon Break.

Photo by Mary Dell Harrington. Image by Val Curtis.

Five years ago this month, I knocked at the door of a psychiatric unit of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and waited until I heard the key in the lock. This was my first time as a volunteer leading the therapy session and I was nervous. Fortunately, I work with a partner whose specialty is to provide good karma and to calm those who need it. His name is Moose and he is my chocolate Labrador. This is the story of our work with adults suffering from schizophrenia. While bringing the dog around to provide comfort, I have learned much about the individual stories of those struggling with profound mental illness. Here I share my experience working alongside Moose, pet therapist.

ABOUT MARY DELL AND LISA: Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Endlich Heffernan are the voices behind Grown & Flown: Parenting from the Empty Nest. Between them they have five children for a total of 93 years of parenting experience as they hurtle towards their empty nests. Mary Dell has a MBA from Harvard Business School and worked at NBC, Discovery, and Lifetime. Lisa has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and worked as a Wall Street trader before becoming an author of three books including New York Times Business Bestseller, “Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success.” She writes for The Atlantic as well as the Huffington Post.

Follow Grown & Flown on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest |Google+

CONTINUE READING IN THE FRONT PORCH

The post Pet Therapy: My Dog Does The Talking by Grown & Flown first appeared on BonBon Break.

Photo courtesy of TB Kilman. Image by Val Curtis.

Whether you are helping your teenager prepare for the SATs or still helping your toddler wipe his nose, you will appreciate Mary Dell and Lisa’s reflections on the college application process and the road toward an empty nest.  Writes Mary Dell: “When you are on the road with your child visiting a school one day, there will be a moment when you witness him walking apart from you. You will see a different child than the 17-year-old who comes home from school and sits at the kitchen table with you. You will envision your child as a college freshman, independent and, really, quite grown up. At this moment you will do your best to keep from tearing up.” My oldest is only 7, yet I can totally imagine this moment and it makes my heart ache already!   ~Ellie

Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Heffernan are two moms with five kids between their two families.  They have already seen their three eldest sons off to college and now, next fall, they will drop their two youngest at their freshman dorms. As friends for over a decade, they helped each other through their kids’ college application process and now have a few thoughts to share with BonBon Break readers.

ABOUT MARY DELL AND LISA: Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Endlich Heffernan are the voices behind Grown & Flown: Parenting from the Empty Nest. Between them they have five children for a total of 93 years of parenting experience as they hurtle towards their empty nests. Mary Dell has a MBA from Harvard Business School and worked at NBC, Discovery, and Lifetime. Lisa has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and worked as a Wall Street trader before becoming an author of three books including New York Times Business Bestseller, “Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success.” She writes for The Atlantic as well as the Huffington Post.

Follow Grown & Flown on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest |Google+

CONTINUE READING IN THE FAMILY ROOM

The post The Good, The Bad, & The OMG of College Admissions by Grown & Flown first appeared on BonBon Break.

It seems everything in our lives has changed. Our cars talk to us. Our phones go everywhere with us and our books and newspapers come to us on a flat electronic tablet. One thing that seemed immutable, solid and unaltered from our childhoods, was television. It could be counted upon to provide us with weekly dollops of serialized story lines that would draw us back week after week, sometimes year after year. Many of theses shows became touchstones for our generation whether it was Seinfeld or Friends, MASH or Dallas.

And then TV changed too. It wasn’t just that we could record ours shows, this was just a minor variant, but now we could watch then all at once. The technology had altered so that we could gorge ourselves on multiweek slices of viewing in a single sitting.

Binge watching was born. To those of us brought up on the weekly show it may always feel like a slightly guilty pleasure, as if we are indulging in far more than we are supposed to. For our children it will just be the way television is watched.

Here are the seven reasons why you should cast off your old viewing habits, carve out a big chunk of time, grab the afghan and enjoy an evening of Binge Watching.

ABOUT MARY DELL AND LISA: Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Endlich Heffernan are the voices behind Grown and Flown: Parenting from the Empty Nest. Between them they have five children for a total of 93 years of parenting experience as they hurtle towards their empty nests. Mary Dell has a MBA from Harvard Business School and worked at NBC, Discovery, and Lifetime. Lisa has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and worked as a Wall Street trader before becoming an author of three books including New York Times Business Bestseller, “Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success.” She writes for The Atlantic as well as the Huffington Post.

Follow Grown and Flown on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest |Google+

CONTINUE READING IN THE ATTIC

The post Why I Love Binge Watching by Grown and Flown first appeared on BonBon Break.