This former education reporter covers family and parenting issues for the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes for the Bay Area News Group's diapers-to-diplomas parenting blog, aPARENTly Speaking.

Jackie Burrell's articles about children, families, college and parenting appear regularly in the San Francisco East Bay's daily newspapers and in papers across the Media News chain. But journalistic background aside, Burrell got her parenting expertise the old-fashioned way: as a mother of four, ages 16-22. With two in college, one newly graduated and out in the working world, and another eying college applications, parenting college-age and young adults is a 24/7 concern -and delight.

All those 2 a.m. feedings, bedtime stories and endless homework supervision ends in this, the discovery that your kids have grown into wonderful adults. And now it's time to turn that 24/7 parent-child relationship into something new. We'll do that together, tapping into the wisdom of sage parents and experts. Join me.