When we went to Lancaster a week and a half ago I came up with the idea of my kids having Amish penpals. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn't know if it would work for a couple of reasons:
1. Do the Amish want their children to correspond with outsiders?
2. How would I find an Amish child for them to be penpals with?
I didn't know if it would work out or not, but I went ahead and wrote down their names, ages, addresses, and interests on two pieces of paper and stuck them in my purse. When we went to the Amish yard sale on Saturday I had my opportunity. I was purchasing something and the wife checked me out. We had spoken the day before and she was really friendly. I asked her if any of her kids would want a penpal and she told me that they all already had several. But I went ahead and handed her the pieces of paper with Beth and Ben's information of them and asked her to give them to someone who might want a pen pal. I halfway thought that was the last I'd hear about that, but I was surprised. Less than a week later, Ben got a letter from a 12 year old boy named Omar. He was so excited! It was a nice long letter, and Ben started writing back almost immediately. He finished the letter yesterday and we mailed it today. (I went ahead and wrote a short letter to Omar's Mom to introduce our family to her) Today Beth got a letter from a 12 year old girl named Emma. Now she's back in her bedroom writing Emma a letter. I think Ben was even more excited about Beth's letter than she was. :o)
2 comments:
What a great idea! I really should get my boys to do that. While they hate writing, they do love sending and receiving mail.
Great idea on writing the mom to introduce your family, too!
I think it's neat that they got a response so quickly.
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