Dee Davila got me musing on parenting college age kids. Today my youngest adult child, a 21 year old college junior, moved into an apartment near campus (on my dime of course!). Was it necessary? Not really - I make the 25 minute commute on back roads quite easily each day - but after 5 semesters living 200 miles away on another campus, she just can't fathom college from home. So how do I feel about this? Honestly, money aside, IB am glad to be getting part of my house back again! We got used to no girls at home, and in a one bathroom house, having two of them back again is a shock to system (have to say one reason I workout in the early AM is to have a huge faculty locker room to get showered and dressed in when I am done!).
Beth has been home since February, joining her older sister who fortunately has had full-time employment since graduating in January 09, but is waiting to buy a house she should hear on any day now. Now I love my daughters - more as they get older - but does it make me a bad parent that I have been counting the days until Beth's apartment became available and Katie's house comes through? I want my house back - I want an office for my dissertaion work so I can stop working in a 2 by 2 corner of the bedroom. I want all the JUNK where I want it - not where they throw it! I want to make what we want for dinner and not worry about who won't eat chicken and who won't eat steak (this week anyway!). I want to clean out the basement and do some home improvements.... does all this make me a bad parent? I hope not! I like to think that I am practicing what I preach to our parents - that what we hope our children gain while in college is more than just an education. We want them to grow into independent, self-sufficient adults who build their own lives, and new relationships with their parents that are parallel lines with frequent intersections, but no longer interlocking. I personally find that comforting and affirming of the job we did as parents!
So, maybe this might shock or mystify some parents, but my daughter moved out today and I was happy to help her pack, with all my love!
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