Is it just me or do other mums start to get the feeling of empty nest as their children grow up. It seems like only yesterday I was holding our youngest in my arms protecting her from harm, and now I find myself with each passing month letting her out into the arms of the big wide world. Charlotte is our youngest of 3 the last to leave the nest, why is it so different with this last child getting ready to move on I’ve been there twice already but I just can’t seem to feel the excitement for her next stage in life as we pass through the months.
It all started after the summer holiday when talk of finding a university started. At first, I was excited looking online at different locations and booking in weekends to visit but it became clear early on our youngest had different thoughts to me as to distance away from home. So for our first visit we were up at 6am on the road for 7 to arrive at Leeds by 9.00.Not too far away was my thoughts but as the day wore on it became apparent that what I thought would be a great place to study was not the way Charlotte was feeling and unfortunately my daughter is not the kind of girl to hide how she’s feeling about a place and so the day was cut short with a ”No not for me the course is not right ”and home we went. A week later Newcastle followed a 6-hour drive away and as we looked around her eyes were big she was engaged in the buildings and the city and I knew at half way through the day the miles from home were not going to be a problem for my baby or her dad only for me. The drive home was filled with excited chatter from both her dad and her and I found it hard as I listened to them talking about life at UNI and for the first time I felt I didn’t have a connection with them. I left school and went into full time work so Life at UNI was something I couldn’t comment on, her dad on the other hand knew what exciting times lay ahead for her.
As the weeks have passed and more visits have taken place I find myself in a strange place of wanting to let go but still the fear of letting go has this strong hold on me, but the one thing I have learnt is my daughter will survive, She will find her way in life because she knows what she wants to achieve and nothing and no one will stand in her way. And me well there will be tears, but I will survive as I have before. And as I expect after a while as all mums know when their children go off to UNI calls home will become less and less but there will always be social media to update me and let me know she’s doing ok. After all her life’s adventures are just beginning and my nest will never really be completely empty as my adventures as a grandparent are just beginning
