Here we go!

Hello Fellow TTS Parents and Students!

I am Mariel's mom, Kim. She and I are so excited to meet everyone in the coming days. Today she is busy sewing on her patches and we read through and looked at a beautiful book about Namibia lent to us by a friend. The animals and landscapes are incredible!

We plan to go to Washington DC a few days early to take in some of the government sites and monuments, so we will see you at the hotel on the 1st instead of the airport.

I am living in an loving my parental separation anxiety as both of my children travel the globe. My son, Tanner, who just turned 18, is backpacking with a friend around Japan for three weeks and, of course, Mariel is flying off to Africa. With that said, I am watching the shifting boundaries of parenting and trying to honor all involved as we move through and into our new relationship landscape. I very much appreciated all of the material in the handbook as it helps to hear from experienced outdoor educators about what to expect from our daughters as they find themselves, new relationships, and community.

I have felt enormous gratitude for this amazing opportunity that has come into Mariel's life. TTS has given a small town girl who is bursting at the seems to be the big person she is an opportunity to be in the world in a way that embraces her whole being, sets healthy boundaries, and encourages responsibility in the learning process yet also encourages freedom of thought and movement.

So with great love and care I wish all the girls and their families safe travels to DC and beyond!

Cheers,

Kim Colvin

Just for you

Parents,

This blog has been created as an opportunity for you to communicate and share with each other. There will be days when you miss a phone call from your daughter and days when you hear all the news. Please use this blog to pass the word along about your daughters. It's just another avenue for communication.

Enjoy!

Advice from a mom who has done this before

I thought I'd pass along a few things we did (or wish we had done) before leaving last semester that made communications easier (long, but hopefully helpful):
1.) Discuss whether the first call on any given day should be to mom's cell, dad's cell, home, work, etc. Sometimes the girls only have a few minutes to call. Hitting voicemail is frustrating for all and takes precious minutes from any subsequent call, if one is even possible.
2.) Encourage messages if she hits voicemail or when she has the opportunity to call but knows you're not available. "Hi, I'm having a BLAST!!!" is much better than waiting another week to hear her voice. Plus, you can play it back over and over and over. :-)If your daughter will call more than one place (mom's house, dad's house, older siblings, etc), let her know those of you back home will communicate with each other (she repeats less; you get more updates). And, she won't be as likely to pass up making any phone call because she doesn't have time to make two phone calls.
3.) Discuss time differences and best times to call (but know they may not have options and call when the opportunity presents itself).
4.) Write down your daughter's calling card number and pin so you can check available minutes and reload before it runs out.
5.) Have your daughter create a blog so she can post news and stories for people back home. Although Jenna was only able to post twice, I added a few of her emails and photos the teachers sent.
6.) Create a separate blog for friends and family to post news from home, photos, etc (we made this by invitation only). This provides a single place for her to read updates when Internet time is limited. Jenna said Facebook and MySpace don't work as well.
7.) Make sure your daughter adds all email addresses to her contact list, and if possible, creates email groups (family, friends, teachers, etc) to save precious email time.
8.) Share what you hear from your daughter on this blog -- other parents will love you! Not all girls call or email at the same time or share the same stories.
9.) Know that no news is good news -- if she's homesick, sick or hurt, you'll hear (hopefully none of us will hear any of these things).
This all said, know that you will ache for the next phone call and email, and no matter how often you hear from your daughter, those calls and emails won't be as frequent, as long, or have as many details as you'd like. But, when you do hear from her, oh, it is wonderful!