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!