I just sent him on a tiyul!

Not quite sure how it all just happened?

At 8:30 PM we were leaving our house to walk up the hill to enjoy a wonderful post-holiday concert on the yishuv basketball court. As Ari and I walked out of the house, DB (our 15-year-old son) stopped us in our path, "There's a Bnei Akiva tiyul tonite and I want to go." **tiyul = hike/trip/tour**

What? An all-night tiyul? How is that possible? How come I didn't know anything about it? Did you just find out about it? Oh? You forgot to tell us? They're leaving after the dancing at midnight and will return tomorrow "sometime"? What kind of youth organization is this?! "Everyone" is going? Who is in charge? What do you have to bring? Isn't there a permission slip to sign?

Totally caught off guard, I told DB to find me the group leader and have him or her (I still don't even know who it is!!) find me.

At 11:30, DB decided it was time to make a decision NOW! He could not find anyone for me to speak to. So I went looking for any parent who might know anything about this trip. Most had gone home. Two moms told me their kids were not going. One parent told me her daughter would be going, but then again, there was just a piguah in Taba (south of Eilat). She didn't know.

But DB really wanted to go. He doesn't get to see his friends much when he's in yeshiva, and these will be memories for him for life...

We came home, I wrote him a permission letter in Hebrew (go me!!), he made himself a cheese sandwich and filled his water bottle. Grabbed his tfillin, a siddur, a flashlight, and off he went!

I'm guessing he got on the bus because he hasn't called me yet (or he could be out wondering the streets...)

All of this is completely against my parenting nature!

Life in Israel for kids is completely different than what I know to be familiar!

(Should I add that today - Simchat Torah - Ely (my 4-year-old) and her friend walked to the park to play and our only instructions were, "Come home before it gets dark!")

I feel I have relinquished my parenting control and can only pray that Hashem keeps these kids safe! I'll let you all know what happens.

P.S. I am very aware that I have not written in several days. Now that the holidays are over, maybe I can sit down and write...