Sixteen years ago my then two-and-a-half-year-old daughter marched independently into her first classroom at a Montessori school, not even glancing back over her shoulder at her parents and auntie, who watched through tear-filled eyes as she made her way into her future. This year as the beginning of school approaches, I am once again tearing up. I have an eighteen-year-old child. Is that an oxymoron? Perhaps. Yet, this now young adult, my only child, has taught me more about

In the blink of an eye, summer has flown by and it’s time for back-to-school. Closed toed shoes stifle the freedom of bare feet and sleeping in until “whenever” on a weekday comes to an abrupt end. How do parents survive the transition, or at least make it easier? Here’s some advice to help get you back into the school routine. Take the “whenever” out of your child’s wake up routine before school starts. Easier said then done, but it will help you get out the door on time (or