This mama needs your prayers
 

or at least, tell me I'm not utterly insane!

In a little over 36 hours, my 14 year old firstborn will be getting on a plane with a group of other teens and taking off for a 3 week trip to Europe. The only time she's ever been away from home that long was a visit to her aunt's in Texas. She was miserable and ready to come home after 3 days!

She begged us for 2 years to let her go on this trip, and now after 10 months of planning, her departure date is on us. She loves all things French, Roman and Greek mythology, art, and reading.

In the span of 20 days, she will visit the Louvre, explore Montmartre, and scale the Eiffel tower in Paris, take an overnight train to Italy, visit a glass factory, cruise the canals of Venice in a gondola, visit the Guggenheim museum, spend 2 days as the guest of a family and attend school in Montecatini. She will visit the American cemetery in Florence, rappel down the walls of a castle in Assisi, then off to Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. She will visit the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Roman Forum, as well as the Trevi Fountain. In Naples, Italy, she will climb Mount Vesuvius, and visit the lost city of Pompeii.

From Naples, she will board an overnight ferry to Greece, where she will visit Olympia and the ruins of the Temple of Zeus. She will spend a day working on a service project and interacting with the local people in a tiny Greek village before heading off to Athens. In Athens, she will visit the Acropolis and the oldest part of Athens, Plaka. She will visit a public school and learn Greek dance steps from the students, then see a professional Greek dance performance. And finally, she and her student group will spend a sun filled day on the beach before boarding a plane to come back home.


As a parent, you feel such immense pride when your children spread their wings the first time. Right now I'm just a jumble of pride, excitement, nervousness, a twinge of jealousy, and unmitigated FEAR. She's my first baby and she's growing up. too. fast!

Please keep me in your thoughts and my Katie-Bug in your prayers for a safe and most excellent adventure. And if you've got one to spare, send up a prayer for my sanity, LOL!

Praying for you and a safe trip for your daughter.

What an exciting opportunity for her!! Yet I do understand those momma feelings. It is one of those bitter sweet moments. Sending prayers for a safe and fun trip!

I understand your fears..and your being so proud of this opportunity for you baby girl. It so hard to start turning them loose. No matter how old they are, they will always be your baby.
Sending prayers for a safe trip, which by the way sounds so amazing and I am a tad jealous too :)

Wow she has a wonderful opportunity. Safe fight. Have a wonderful time. . . . Can I go ;)

That's wonderful for her. I pray she has a safe trip and will return home estatic with details of her fabulous adventure. :)Sending positive thoughts to you.

It is so hard sometimes to watch our children grow up. My oldest just got married. It just seems impossible for him to be all grown up and married. I am so happy for them cause they are so happy and doing well. I think about that when I can't believe it's happened. Somebody said I must have done something right. I guess that it true.

I totally understand your angst of letting your child fly to an entirely different continent. So far away. I will pray for God to give you peace during this time.

I will pray that your daughter is kept safe and enjoys herself so very much. What a dream trip. I was once presented with the opportunity of something similar but we didn't have the money when I was young so it wasn't an option. She is living my dream so I hope she has the time of her life and pray that all goes as it should.

Hugs!

prayers for a safe arrival and return home.

I can totally relate....I so understand your fear. Against mommys' wishes, my then 17year old decided he was going to school in Iowa....from Whitby, Ontario, that is 17hrs, by car away! I had all kinds of images running through my head....not meaning to offend anyone, but the biggest was, 'do they even have black folks in Iowa'....I'm telling you the fear of that was eating me alive. He lasted a year...never got to do what he set out to do....he went down bc it was his dream to play basketball in the U.S. Well the coach had an issue with him for whatever reason (sorry but I smelled some serious racism)....he was benched the entire season..he and the only other black Canadian student that went down....being 17hrs away didn't really help, there was nothing I could do. Both students came home, he wound up at the University of Windsor actually playing basketball, for the Lancers, no less! He is now 21 and home in Whitby attending his last two years at the college level. Yup mom can rest easy now. Those three years he spent away from home, allowed him to take responsibility for himself, as mom was too far away to help...my baby boy is all growed up now at 21 years old.

I had to learn to let him go and be his own man and follow his dreams (even though his dream never came true).
What a wonderful opportunity for your daughter....I'm a grown woman, how I wish I could go on a trip like that! She will have a great time, and will be back before you know it!
Godspeed to your daughter and a glass of wine and ((HUGGZZ)) and some Kleenex for you.

Almost there!
 

Thanks, everyone! We're about 90% packed, have all the pertinent phone numbers and emergency contacts written down, and running around like the proverbial headless chickens trying to make sure we aren't forgetting anything. And on top of all of it, I have got the nastiest head cold. My ears feel like I've been deep sea diving. And it's raining buckets and bullfrogs at the moment. We have to run to pick up a few last second items. Of course we have to get up insanely early in the morning to get to the airport in rush hour traffic.

There have been moments today that I've wondered if I could slip someone some extra cash just to keep her over there! Lord, 14 year olds with attitude - urgh! It's a good thing Mom is here to help, because I would have throttled her by now. And of course Sam and Piper have to be right in the middle of the suitcase and everything else, especially the freshly folded clothes.

Jacqui, I'm already into the grapes, lol! All this work, and I don't even get to go? Not FAIR!

Sounds like an amazing opportunity. As a parent I can so understand your feelings. I will keep her in my prayers.

I know right?? Sorry boo...have another glass, we can toast her together! If you figure out a way to go, I'm coming!!!:p:p:p

Hallelujah! Finally got everything packed up and ready. Just waiting for her Kindle to finish charging, and then it's off to bed. The coffee maker is set for 4:45 am, and the alarm for 5:00 am.

I iz soooo tard, folks! I don't think it will all set in until we get her to the airport in the morning.

Sam must be really mad at me for ignoring him today. He's curled up in Mom's lap and Piper is destroying my crocheted throw making her own nest.

Praying for safe journeys. Get some much deserved rest mom.:)

Oh. my. lord. I am so stinking tired! I have slept a grand total of 4 hours out of the last 40. And, I'm still sick as all heck. Pretty sure I have some type of infection.

We got to bed around midnight, and I was up at 3:15 this morning coughing my head off, and finally gave up on sleep around 4:30.

We had to be at the airport in Nashville at 8:30, and Katie's flight wasn't until 11:45. All the parents and grands hung out with the kids until after they got their bags checked and headed for security. I didn't lose it until I turned around to leave after the last of the kids was out of sight.

Because of storms in Philadelphia, they didn't get in the air until a little after 1:00. Once they got to Philly, they had just enough time to grab a quick lunch and head for the international terminal. Thankfully their second flight was on time, and they will be landing in Paris in 2 hours. It will be midnight here and 8:00 a.m. there. I won't be able to fall asleep until I get her text that they have safely landed.

Hang in there! You will be ok and so will she. A few years back I took my precious,oldest daughter (then 22) to the airport and left her at security to board a plane,land in Ireland,find her bus to ride to where her boyfriend was and they spent 6 weeks in a rented car traveling all over Ireland staying in hostils and trying to make their money stretch far enough. Didnt hear from her until we picked her up at DFW 6weeks later. I survived only because there were 5 other children to keep me busy or drive me crazy,however you want to look at it. I think that I Xstitched about 15 projects,my house was REALLY clean when she got home and I sewed or cooked inbetween the stress moments. It sounds like she is going to have so much fun!!

How exciting for your daughter to be able to go on this trip!! I can sympathize with you though....it seems like they go from infants to adults in a matter of months instead of years. :)

I hope you get to feeling better. I am praying for her safety and your worries, also. Hang in there, mom!! :p