As our daughter is getting ready for her semester abroad, we have to control our urge to help her as much as we can. We even briefly considered going with her to get her set up but realized how stupid that was. We have to keep reminding ourselves that even though we think of her as a child, she is an adult. It is going to take some time for us to get used to this. Even though this is the first time for her to travel out of the country by herself, this is not the first time she is traveling by herself and also not her first time going outside the country. Whatever happens on this trip (good or bad), this is the experience that she is seeking and will learn from it.

We look forward to visiting her in Edinburgh in November - half way through her semester there. I am sure we will hear about having to drag suitcases over cobblestones all by herself, lugging groceries on a bus, different brands of British food, figuring out British pounds and pence, getting used to and understanding Scottish accent and all the other fun stuff.