Done!

Six years ago Gerald and I sat through a week of training for professors to go abroad. The information was extremely fascinating and helpful. But I did notice one area of training that was mostly missing: Parenting abroad.

Of course I was raised all over the world. But that didn't mean I was paying attention to my parent's wonderful techniques! And living abroad with children is very different than just being a kid abroad.

So began the process of reading, collecting stories, listening to advice, and remembering my own past to put together a simple talk for parents at the next conference. What began as a 'simple talk' turned into a survey project, a write-up, and a huge amount of information that I knew I couldn't fit into a 45-minute talk! Somewhere along the way I decided to do a website with all the information I had gathered.

Six years after that training week, I am finally ready with a (mostly) finished project that will probably keep evolving over time as more opinions and stories come in.

Although I am very excited to announce this site, It is a very scary feeling to tell 'the world' about it. It makes me feel vulnerable because so many of the stories and opinions are personal. There are also probably mistakes and glitches in it (especially the forum) that will have to be worked out as they become revealed.

Steve Engbrock (USA) and Reda Bouman (Morocco) have helped me tremendously with hours and hours of work on the website. When they speak to me about website design and use all their lingo, I just smile, nod, and pretend that I understand when really what I'm hearing sounds like white noise to me! I am so thankful for their time, their expertise, and their patience with me (I kind of deleted all the updates made last week by accident on Monday).

When I was moaning to Gerald last week about why this project was taking so long, I suddenly realized something: I've just written my first book! OK, so it has no editor and it's not in print, but besides those minor details - it's the size of a book and it's taken hours - days - months - years - to work on.

So with great trepidation and that huge and faltering introduction, here is my new website:

Parents of Third Culture Kids: Understanding and helping your TCK thrive
http://www.ptck.org/

Want to know what a TCK is? TCKs are kids who are raised in a culture other than their own. Want to know more? I think you know what I'll say!