Make Promises Happen Trip

I am not familiar w/ "make promises happen"???? However, 8 sounds a little young to me.

I understand your fears as a mother. I believe that if you pray to God to send angels to watch over her and the rest of the group, that he will!! Especially if you and other people pray together about this. The fear is coming from a dark place--Satan--and he tries to come and steal our happiness away. We have to make sure we don't let it happen, and show him that God is in charge of our lives, not him. I'm not trying to be preachy, but I need reminding of these things sometimes, too. Another thing that you can do is pray to God to give you peace about the situation, and if you still have a bad feeling about it, maybe you should think twice about letting her go. Maybe it's God trying to tell you something. Always listen to your heart--It's God speaking to you!!

Liz W.

Hi C.,

I think that one of the most important things is knowing if your daughter is ready to take that trip and if she want to go really bad or if she is in doubt. My daughter wouldn't be ready for a trip that far and that long, even though we've been there before, but I know of others girls in her class that are very ready and already did trips like that.

Hope it helps, you will miss her but it is good to know how much she wants this.

Mariana Abadie
www.MyKidsFirst.com

Hi C., In my opinion I would let her go. This is a trip of a lifetime as you have said let her go. Talk to the people she is going with and tell the your concerns ask questions if you need to, and maybe see if they need more volunteers to go. Let her have fun. Mom of 4, W.

YES...she'll be fine...i know your doubts...but just let her go

There have been an assortment of things that my kids have wanted to do that I wasn't totally comfortable with. It's good that you feel the sponsoring organization is a safe, dependable one. There are a few concrete things you can do to ease your own mind.

First, call and talk to the head of the program. Let them know this is your child's first trip far from home, and ask for information about how they handle things like homesickness, food choices, health problems, etc... just so you know.

If your kid has special issues, like allergies or night frights, let them know so they can be prepared to handle it.

Find out how you can contact your daughter or her counselors if need-be. Ask what their rules are about contact. Some places prefer no contact, because it reminds kids they haven't seen their parents in a few days and triggers homesickness that might otherwise not have occurred. If this makes you uncomfortable, see if you can schedule one mid-trip phone call - for your own comfort!

There is nothing wrong with doing whatever it takes to reduce your own anxiety so that your daughter's big adventure doesn't turn into your big ulcer.

If it makes you feel any better, my older daughter had some chronic issues (asthma, food allergies, eczema), and every year, I drove up to the summer camp in advance of the camp, met with the nurse and the kitchen director - even took up some special foods like egg substitute and rice milk - etc, to make sure that she had the foods she needed, and that the staff would take her problems as seriously as I did.

Later, when she wanted to go on a snowboard vacation during high school, I was worried because of the notorious spring break stories. I got references for the sponsoring organization, talked to other parents whose kids had gone before, and still insisted on having a phone number at the location (not the organizing agency's number, but a direct number to the location). I may have been the only mother who did, and I called my daughter once to see if it worked! I might be crazy, but I didn't want to spend my kids' vacations worrying. Do what you need to do to get comfortable.