Two chicken breasts!
.
....and the realisation that its 'just us' again, me and him, supper for two!
No more ten million euro shops!
This light bulb moment, came as I was considering Sunday supper earlier today, ready for him returning from a catch up with his parents. I looked at the huge leg of lamb I'd gotten out of the freezer in a haze this morning and realised we'd never eat it all. Dam it! However, I may reserve the right to strip it later in the week for a curry, can always freeze a curry can't I? Then upon checking the fridge for more inspiration, discovering instead, that there was a lot of over ripe veg and various open jars to get rid of! We'd only been away a couple of days!
Fridge cleaning and bed stripping can wait till Monday, but supper can't really, so it's when I'm staring at the double edged sword that is a family pack of chicken breasts, it hits me in the solar plexus, its just me and him again!
Yeah!
Oh no!
She's gone.
Joy and pain.
This isn't the first time we've been a duo, but its been rare. No.3 has left us several times and was always leaving for boarding school. We were very versed in 'see yah later alligator'.
This time? We could actually carry out the threat of turning her room into an office!
Even though this time, she's left home to go and be a working girl, its to a school and so it all felt a bit same, same. Us lugging her stuff around breathlessly, bemoaning our old knee knobs and doing our best to magic a home from home in under 4 hours!
Job done, again.
We did it and god bless her she's off and running.
We are so excited for her, especially after the horrid experience she had last year. There are lessons we all wish she'd never had to learn, but its all done bar us suing the girls that made her life so difficult.
We are so excited for ourselves, our options and fuller bank account.
We've been parents nearly 33 years!
Enough already!
Enough before its time for our Zimmer frames and 80 pills a day to keep us alive!
But we miss them, of course we do.
However, in the last year or so we have found ourselves wishing to be as child free as we can be. I mean, we love them, of course, but part of that is giving them wings to fly. We must have been too good to them because the buggers wouldn't leave!
I know, we know, its awfully tough out there for these kids and super expensive but they have to cut their cloth accordingly, just like we did. We don't expect them to bugger of at 16/18 these days, but if not in education then it's time to get earning isn't it?
And so our new chapter begins. We aren't making any rash moves because these kids of ours have a bad habit of returning! We are giving it a year and then once we are happy that they are settled, then we will be off!
Their home should they need it, will always be wherever we are and I assume that's a comfort to them? None of them are really keen on our French adventure and thats okay, they will make their own adventures and we will have ours.
I have child rearing apathy now which isn't surprising now the youngest is 22 this year. I'm at peace with my need to be a little more selfish these days. I dont want to cling or live through them, expect them home every holiday! Go live your lives kids!
I'm looking forward to us spending some money on ourselves, lower food and utility bills. Less cleaning, less mess. Less and more of everything.
And yet, my heart has developed a new hole and whilst I know it will heal, for now, excuse me whilst I become confusingly sad and happy at the same time.
Playing this blog out with a bit of ABBA......School bag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning....waving goodbye with that absent minded smile.....boo hoo.
Sniff.....sniff.
Also, its time my husband learnt to cook! Just saying!
D x