www.couchsurfing.org<\/a>. True, this is a bit like relying on Big Pharma for advertising failed drug trials, but what\u2019s a mother to do?<\/p>\nCouchsurfing International\u2019s motto is \u201ccreating a better world, one couch at a time.\u201d The website* features a large map festooned with pushpins, creating the impression that you can track your far-flung child the way politicians track every last voter in every last precinct. \u201cThe World is Smaller than You Think,\u201d proclaims a headline. This subliminal leap to Disney\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s a small world, after all\u201d induced a nostalgic trance, and I felt myself being lulled into a more trusting state. No matter that predators are equally skilled in setting up their prey.<\/p>\n
As I read further under \u201cSafety isn\u2019t one-size-fits-all,\u201d I encountered the same conversation about stranger danger that I had attempted years earlier. It wasn\u2019t so much about puppies and kittens as checking references, trusting your gut, paying attention to the internal red, yellow, and green lights. This time, the target audience had the cognitive skills to make such assessments.<\/p>\n
I recalled a service trip to Mexico Ally had made a few years earlier with a church group. Before our teenagers embarked, the minister tried to assuage parents\u2019 anxiety about drug violence. \u201cThe world is a risky place,\u201d she said. \u201cI worry each time my own children travel to faraway countries. But then I realize that the far greater risk comes from never leaving home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now as then\u2014as with every stage of parenting–I had to swallow hard and trust in the universe and Ally\u2019s judgment. From crib death to solid food to sleepovers to dating to driving to leaving home\u2014couchsurfing was just one more thing on the list of stuff I couldn\u2019t control.<\/p>\n
Ally returned from Belgium an ecstatic and avowed couchsurfer. Their host had taken them ice skating, handed over the keys to his apartment, and prepared a feast of mussel stew.<\/p>\n
Thank you, universe, for taking care of my daughter.<\/p>\n
And thank you, kind stranger, for making her feel at home.<\/p>\n
_______<\/p>\n
* The website has changed since I wrote this a couple of years ago, so you won’t find the same verbiage or graphics anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My wonderful writing group, The Write on, Mamas!, performed at San Francisco’s Lit Crawl last weekend. Our theme was “Let Go Or Be Dragged.” As the mother of 20-somethings, I have a lot of experience with this. I read this … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8,9,36],"tags":[10,11,73,92,93],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2F8Ch-5S","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}