Yesterday we dropped our eldest off at Uni - no surprise there, we've known the date for months and the finances have been a subject of discussion/head-scratching and grumbling from me. "How many years " and "how much" were about as much as i thought of it as i realised i was being tied to a lorry load of bills.
By the time our youngest takes the same route no doubt we'll be holding a party - she's 9 now so a while yet...but she is a wild one for sure.
But now my sidekick for the last 18 years ( unfortunately for poor Becca she is so like her Dad and inherited lots including sense of humour ) is now living 2 hours away and we'll be seeing her infrequently has hit like a bomb going off.
From chasing her round on hands and knees as a toddler to the twinkle in her eyes now as we share our private little jokes or she spots me in the process of setting someone up with straight faced misinformation ( usually at the expense of my long suffering wife ) i hadn't quite comprehended the change just around the corner. She's always been a "daddys girl" and apart from a few weeks total over her whole life we've spent a lot of our free time together and have very similar tastes in music,humour,books etc. I can't even get to the punch line on one of my jokes without her laughing ( or telling me off ) as she spots where i am going immediately.......usually to puzzled looks from my wife and younger two which just starts us off laughing even more.
She's now effectively moved out virtually permanently and life isn't quite the same. We'll see her fairly frequently but the change has already happened. She's a lovely sensible girl and i'm sure she's going to do just fine but i'm going to miss her like hell.
I'm sure some of you have gone through this......but to those who it is yet to happen to i'd recommend making the most of your kids while you have them at home ( cliche saying i know but the years will fly and you'll hit times like this and wonder how it went so quickly )........it's over before you realise it and its like one of those things that nobody ever told you about but which is bloody obvious when you get there.
Ah well......time to give myself a slap to "man up" and get on with it ;)
Cheers
Niel
Somber thought's Neil, thanks for the warning :)
My 4 year old just started school and my 2 year old is growing up to fast. I'll be back gaming when they get bored with me ;)
Been there, done that.
My 25 yo, 23 yo & 20 yo have all flown the coop :(
fortunately, they keep in (sort of) regular contact, and they're all >2 hrs away.
I had the lot of them home last w/end (for a family funeral unfortunately) and, situation allowing, it was lovely.
I love it when they are all together, chatting, ****-taking or whatever.
I was an only child and therefore permanently scarred, this would've been my ideal family to grow up with.
Don't worry Niel, they'll be back soon enough
edit: Tox will be with me @ LAN XXXIIIXXLLLM or summat
edit2: that should read '... have all flown the coop fortunately.' :P
I have this pain to look forward to. In the mean time, my eldest can legally drive a car on the public roads in 3 months time and that's more than enough pain for me to deal with at the moment.