I can’t believe it has been 5 months since William first came to live with us. He is such big part of our family, including our extended family. I just can’t bear to think that he will only be here for another 5 months. So, I will do what I do best – avoid thinking about it. :)
I’ve read some blog entries from some other host parents and I feel so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful young man as my (our – sorry Matt!) son this year. He is respectful but funny and playful, thoughtful and just sarcastic enough to fit in with me and Matt. I could go on and on but I don’t want anyone to gag. :)
Seriously though, I worry that maybe we aren’t being good parents. I mean, we’ve only parented 4-legged kids. Willy is our first human I don’t want to screw him up too much for when he gets back to life in Italy.
So, is it wrong to let him go to a party where I know alcohol will probably be present but we’ve discussed all the usual “don’t ride with anyone who has been drinking, call me”, “if there are drugs at the party, call and we’ll pick you up…”? He hasn’t given me any reason to not trust him.
He has a phone and keeps both of us informed about where he is, will be, and with whom. The only time I’ve actually really worried is when he takes trips with school for soccer because I don’t find out where they’ll be staying, what time they’ll be back. But, I remind myself that I can reach people if needed so it will be fine.
I want him to experience our culture because that is in fact what he is here for and let’s face it, a lot of teen culture is hanging out with friends, sleep-overs, sports, trips to the mall, movies, dates, and yes, PARTIES.
I don’t know, just typing this out I feel silly, it has worked for us so far. So, until something changes I guess we’ll just keep at it the way we have been. Unless any of our wonderful followers have any wise words of wisdom to share? You know you want to! :)
So, I won’t delete this entry without posting because the point of this blog is to share my feelings and they are shared. Until next time!
