General Chat

My 17 year old is off to America today to take part in a couple of football tournaments. This is the first time he has been so far away from home and with all the recent troubles i have had so many people ask me if i am worried about him going. I have been saying "no, not at all"...however, I have just waved him off and now my nerves are starting to niggle......i am going to chew all my recently aquired nails waiting to hear he has arrived safely....when he actually gets to let me know that is! (you know what teenage boys can be like!!!!lol) I expect i will have to spend LOTS of time on Gr to distract me til he is home again, not that i need an excuse you understand ;-) Yvette

hi yvette, what a wonderful experience for a young lad,hope he has a great time,and comes home safe and sound. yes,this is a great place to come,to forget our worries,i should know. bryan.

Thanks Brian He went off this morning all dressed up in his new suit, full of nerves but really excited. Its going to be a long 2 weeks til he is home! His little brother (6 years old) was quite upset at the thought of no big brother to play with, 2 weeks is a life time at that age, lol. I will just have to spoil him rotten and hope to distract him........i guess my lego building skills are about to get a testing!! Yvette

I hope he really enjoys his visit Yvette. As a mum you're bound to worry but as a good parent you teach them the skills to cope with new experiences, kiss them goodbye and then wait for their safe return. I have to say, I think it was a bit insensitive of so many people to ask if you were worried about him going. How can we wrap them in cottonwool at that age? If you're lucky your son may even tell you all about his trip when he returns!

hi yvette worry is the mum word we never stop using, no matter how old they are, i hope he enjoys the experience, its strange i was a mum at 16 and married, now my 5 are between 16 and 26 eldest is a new mum, and i worry about all of them, its when the tables are turned and they worry about us, its just as frightening being on the recieving end, as we are always the adults and they will always be our kids.no matter how old they are lol sandra

Yvette, I am the worse person to be putting this on here at the moment. I am missing my boy so much, my stomach is in constant knots, I want to cry all the time, but it is so lovely when he phones, which he has a lot, still not enough for me though. We bring them up with loads of love, teach them to be sensible and careful, now it's their chance to show us how well they can cope. Your Son like mine will have a brilliant time, they will probably miss us too and just think of that lovely feeling when they come home. Email me if you're really fed up, we can moan together. M.

Hi Morfydd How are coping with your son being away now? I hope that you are doing ok and that he is having a great time. My son is still in America, and is now having a great time. I was worried that i couldn't get hold of him the first few days, so contacted one of the other families that are looking after some of David's team mates, and they were really great, they let him email me and then let me know that he and the lad he was with had been moved to a new family, as the family they had been with were not looking after them properly, and since the move he has been in touch a couple of times to tell me how wonderful everything is, especially the breakfasts!! My son loves his food!! The best bit is that he is having so much fun, and his team won the Final for the first tournament they were in, so it has been worth all the worry. He starts a second tournament today and is hoping to do well with that one as well, but says even if they don't do so well he doesn't mind as it is great playing in such huge venues. Yvette

hi yvette,hes obviously having a great time,its an experience,that i doubt he will ever forget,so lucky at his age. soon be home,big hugs from mum...and home cooking to look forward to. bryan.

Hello Yvette, Don't worry, most parents feel like that when the kids travel abroad. I remember when my daughter did a school exchange with Santa Barbara in California in the late '80s, they had an earthquake out there while she was staying. The international telephone lines were clogged for hours with anxious parents phonng, even though the event was over 600 miles away from where they were staying! Don't worry, he'll have a great time and arrive back perfectly safely. It's more likely that you'll trip over the kerb tomorrow and split a lip, than anything'll happen to him! Philip

I bet he's having a brilliant time Yvette and I know exactly how you feel. My daughter has just come home after spending 9 months in Madrid as part of her uni course. I went with her last September to help her find somewhere to live. I left her 5 days later crying in Madrid airport and feeling like the worst mum in the world for leaving her there. Guess what, when June came around, she didn't want to come home, (even though the place was bombed while she was there)! Maggy

Hi Yvette, I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. My son went of to USA , alone, when he was 21 for 6 months having never been anywhere on his own before. He was in touch by phone regularly, but he decided to stay on, and I next saw him when he arrived home unexpectedly at Christmas - FOUR YEARS later. I was beginning to think I would never see him again, and kept saying to him - 'You will come home for my funeral won't you"' It was the best Christmas present I have ever had! He will be fine, but you can't help worrying about your babies can you? lol! Margaret

Hi Yvette, I think we both feel a bit happier this week, don't we? He contacted me a lot last week, sometimes I had to remind him. He came home Friday early evening, had food and slept until Saturday afternoon, he's not normally one for late nights, so needed to catch up on the lost sleep. He left yesterday morning and neither of us cried (I waited until he'd gone). I am ok so long as I hear his voice a couple of times a day and every day is a day closer to 20th August, his last day there. The boys are enjoying themselves and that's great. M.