When planning this trip I thought it best to arrive 1.5 weeks before starting the program for us to settle into Israeli life. Truth be told, we could be here 10 years and not necessarily settle into this crazy life (that’s a whole other blog post that will come!) but we have orientated ourselves, met some great people, ate some beyond incredible food (another blog post that will come!) and had a great break before the business part of this trip commences.

About 6 weeks before we left home I started to talk to Milla about the adventure she would be having – that she would have to say goodbye to daddy, Lulu and Crumpet, her grandparents, family and friends. I thought I was doing the right thing by giving her time to mentally prepare, however it turns out that she developed anxiety and while she had traditionally needed me to comfort her, she suddenly didn’t want to let Mr V out of her sight and would take 1.5hours to fall asleep. So we stopped discussing it for a while, however I believe that it has been an important part of our Israel orientation to explain to her that we are starting a new kinder and she might make some new friends. We are walking distance from the centre so we have been wandering down there and I’ve told her each time it’s her new kinder.

So now, it’s the night before the program starts and I need to take a moment to regroup and think about what this means. This is THE program we have been working towards. This is THE program I’m pinning our hopes on to help Milla. This is THE opportunity we have worked so hard to be able to seize.

Milla is a truly wonderful girl. Having the opportunity to hang out with her in Israel over the last 10 days has really shown me how amazingly capable she is. She’s clever, funny, considerate and always gives 100%. But we are here for a reason and apparently it’s not the food. We need to help her with her speech (yes, the irony that we have come to a non-English speaking county to teach her to speak isn’t lost on me!) and we need to boost her current skill levels, but mostly we need to give her the confidence to know that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to.

Many people have asked if we have specific therapy goals for the program. In truth I don’t. I genuinely believe that if you work really hard towards one goal specifically then sometimes you miss all of the peripheral achievements that are likely just as monumental. Obviously the impetus to come to the program was to help Milla be able to express herself verbally, though whether that is full sentences or individual words I just want her to achieve as much as she is capable. I want her to be proud of her own achievements. I want her to be encouraged by her own progress. And I want this to form the foundation of her future achievements. So yeah, no biggie… no pressure at all! We have always pushed Milla beyond what anyone expected of her and yanking her from her comfort zone at home to do this intensive program is our way of further pushing her to achieve her endless potential – the world truly is her oyster.

Wish us luck!!

J x