Parent Support

Although I am still sad about having Josh away at school I am helped tremendously by the special parent web site that the alumni parents set up early on to help ease the feelings of isolation that parents feel when their kids are away at school . It is run by the parent alumni association (not the school), but the school does upload weekly photos of the kids in their various activities. Also, one of the senior staff at the school hosts a bi-weekly conference call about a topic of general interest, and then the call is transcribed and added to the site. There is lots of other great info on the site, but the best thing is the parent message board. This is where parents can ask questions of each other, provide advice and perspective and just support each other on the emotional roller-coaster that comes with having a child in a therapeutic boarding school. The posts are thoughtful and heartfelt and I see that nearly everyone is feeling (or has felt) the same things I am and are worried about the same things. And, in a weird way, being on the site makes me feel closer to Josh.