There
are some things in life you just know will be good for your child or teen and
you “ strongly encourage “ ( aka force ) them to it
A
humanitarian trip where beauty was on her own and did not go with someone she
knows beside her was one of them
So
we gave her a choice this summer 1- to work part of summer and go a month away
to do a certification in becoming a camp Counselor for sleepaway camp 2 - work
most the summer and take 2 weeks and choose a humanitarian trip far away and
serve others and learn about social justice ( which is something I wished my
parents would have forced on me !! )
She
chose the trip and was very anxious about this experience especially spider and
tarantulas in the Amazon forest and also not being able toRelate
to a group she was convinced would be very different from her
The
weeks heading up to the trip we kept her very busy on vacation at cottage with
many friends up her tubing and dancing and hanging out . The night before her
trip she went to ocaheaga huge outdoors concert until 2:30am and we left to
drop her airport for her first flight to Toronto FL meet group at 5am !!
In
between those few hrs she was so nervous and tired she threw up and got in
fight with me and her brother . It was awful !! I was sure she would not be
able to get on flight
But
she did !!!! And the resilient strong girl she is was all good the next day .
Within 7 mins of meeting her group ( she was only one not from Toronto with a
connecting flight even !! ) and within 7 mins she told me she had 4 bffs and
liked all the 18 in groups ! That’s my girl :))
We
had no contact for 13 days etc from me to we updated every 2 days and was soooo
excited to get those emails and pics !!
When
she came to airport back from trip we brought her bff as a surprise and beauty
used her tracking app and saw she was 3 mins away from her in airport !!!
She
walked out with her huge huge knapsack and 15 handwoven bracelets and ecadour
knitted pants and a totally casual relaxed demenor and no joke none of 3 of
us recognized her at all ! We even said “ that girl looks so much like beauty !
“
No
joke
5
mins later we realized was her . New dememor . Spent 30 mins in airport
getting demos of how she gets her backpack on back ( with huge scoliosis ! )
and heard the highlights of trip before we went to my moms for a kiss and hug
and then she hit the sheets for 13 hrs !
Back
to reality now and love hearing the stories that come up here and there when we
are not asking for them :) she really loved this trip and made some amazing
friendships with 5 specific girls ( who of course seemed to be the more rebels
of the group )
She
also truly made a bff in a man named Miguel who lives in ecadour and is 59 .
Every single pic was of him and her and him crying as she left . He is a
wonderful family man and helps out and really bonded with beauty and her
gang . She invited him to come to Canada to fish with her dad ( ps he doesn’t
really even fish ! ) and is sending him her iPhone 4 and gifts for his
grandkids
I
loved seeing her :
Friends
with spiders !!! Well maybe not friends but much more tolerant of them
I
loved how happy she was in her pics and videos
Loved
what she posted on Facebook that she never ever stopped smiling !
I
love that she stretched herself and did something very hard
I
love that when they called and did the report they said she was by far
the most confident 16 yr old girl they had ever met and also the funniest and
that she was everyone’s fave in the group :))
She
has magic this girl ! Just want more of the magic to myself , her dad and
brothers more often pls !!
I
could have done without :
Her
dissing some of the leadership activities :(
Her
and all her gang coming home with Lice !!!!
All
in all when she showed the video with music she made to us also cried with
tears of pride and joy . So glad I have the good sense to force what I know is
needed while i still can !!
Beauty’s
blog coming up soon !!
