Through Facebook, I saw you this week. The new mums and dads with polished little babies about to start school with perfectly straight clothes and shiny shoes (at least until recess when lunch and sweaty games took their toll).
I heard your stories about kids needing to be taken away from you crying and listened at your heartbreak.
I heard great stories too of new friends, cheerful discoveries and teachers who made them feel loved and cherished.
You see, I remember being you. I remember worrying about everything from bullying to home readers and lost hats. I remember arbitrating friendship fall-outs and watching my baby boy forget his bravery at night when he still needed his stuffed Liony and a hall light left on.
I learned so many things over my many years as a mother of school kids. What I have not learned is how to let go at the end of it all.
You see, mums and dads, there will come a time when you have to navigate an even bigger farewell than the school gate, the school camp or the sleepover.
My eldest son is about to move out of home to go to university.
Living in a rural area means that leaving home is the only way he can continue tertiary study apart from studying via correspondence.
None of us are ready.
We have all, our son, his father, his brothers and I had a few unplanned and unpredictable teary moments. Those tears come unbidden and a simple ‘family one liner’ or the realisation that it will be mid semester when it is his Dad’s birthday can stop us in our tracks. We are acutely aware as the deadline looms that nothing will ever be the same.
Tomorrow will be our last family dinner in the same way it has always been. Tomorrow will be the last time (for some time at least) where his naughty dog will leap on the dining table to jump into his arms. Tomorrow I will pack his worldly possessions and send him into a world that he is probably not ready for.
Top Comments
The absolute best thing you can do to make it easier for your kid to move out is to prepare them as best as possible for an adult life. This means that they know how to cook meals, they know how to do their washing, they know how to clean the house and they have had a part-time job where they've had to cough up some money for their own expenses. Get them doing outside jobs, like helping mow the lawn or put the bins out.
If you know they can exist independently, the move is easier on everyone, especially if they're not going to be close by.