A Mama's Gratitude for the Wonderful Web

Right now, this mama is very grateful for the internet, especially for the social media part. My sweet, wonderful son is about to take off on a grand adventure. In six days he will be boarding a plane and traveling across the wide ocean to spend his senior year of high school as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in . . . wait for it . . . Estonia. In case you don't know where that it (I didn't. I had to look at a map, so no shame.), I have put a picture here that will help you.

For the first month that he is there, he is not allowed to have any contact with his friends and family back home. That's right folks. My son is going away to a foreign country (albeit a wonderful and safe one), and I am not going to be able to hear from him for a month. I mean, I get it. They want him to acclimate. They want him to learn to depend on his host parents. But . . . dang.

What this means is, I am going to become a major lurker. I will be actively stalking my son on his Facebook page, his blog, and anywhere else I may be able to find traces of him in the Web 2.0 universe, and leaving no evidence that I have been there. 

I have warned my son of my lurking, and promised not to break the rules of contact, so it's all good. He has strict instructions on what information he needs to be sure to include on his Facebook posts and in his blogs. Its all about keeping the mama from tipping over into crazy. He knows. Right now, I am really grateful for this source of connection.