As a mom, one of the goals I have is to maintain a good relationship with my children. In some ways boys are easier on this – make their favorite meal and you’re their best friend! Girls can be a little trickier. And, okay, maybe there is more to boys than their stomach; but we’ll save that for another post.
One of the best decisions I have made to do with my daughters has been a Passport to Purity Weekend. We went over some great material together but, more than that, we made some lasting memories. It’s been several years, but they both still talk about their “trips” fondly.
The idea of the weekend is to get away with your daughter for some one- on- one time where you can talk about this whole growing up, dating/courtship, purity thing. Family Life puts out a resource called, Passport to Purity which we used. It has audio sessions you listen to with object type lessons you do to illustrate the point. The guide tells you what you need to gather and bring along for the weekend. These are things like balloons, a pitcher, some dirt etc… We modified it to fit our needs, but it was a great starting point.
This concept works for Dad’s to take their sons as well, just FYI.
The best thing about the weekend is getting a view into your daughter’s heart and letting her see yours. It’s recommended around age 12, which we found to be a perfect time as all these changes are hitting and they are starting to see some of their friends make foolish choices. Yes, we did have fun and go out to eat, shop etc… but we also did a lot of “real” talking.
We allowed our daughters to help pick the location. Ariel chose to go to Gurney Mills Outlets north of Chicago and Giordano’s Pizza. Since her trip, we’ve visited the mall one other time and it remains her favorite shopping experience. Lexie, wanting her own location, chose Frankenmuth, MI. She loved the Bronners Christmas Store as well as the famous chicken dinners there. They were both great choices.
These trips really set the foundation for our relationship as a mother/young woman rather than mother/child. It is hard to make the time and it does take a little money but the experience is priceless.