This year has had some ups and downs, but the major thing that sticks out to me is that both of my kids are now at college. It’s been just the three of us for so long that it was weird at first, but not in a bad way, necessarily.
Except for the times my ex was deployed—he was Army—this has been the only point where I’ve ever lived on my own for any length of time. I have to laugh because even during those deployments I had a dog at the very least…so I still wasn’t alone.
I know everyone sees change differently and I know that for a lot of people having kids going off to college is emotionally devastating…but I like my quiet house.
I like being able to eat whenever I want to without having to think about other people’s schedules.
I like the quiet and being able to work whenever I want to.
I like making dinner once and eating off of it for several days.
Maybe things would be different if my kids didn’t call so much or if they were gone for long periods, but they’re great about calling and telling me about their week or their day and they come home a lot. Their good communication has made it easier but it’s taken some getting used to.
I think my biggest struggle has been not having a schedule.
It sounds silly, but their school stuff and routines were what I built my own schedule around and it was so weird not having that structure any longer. I have to admit that I floundered a bit having too much time on my hands without a plan for how to use it.
So I’ve been working on that and making sure I get out of the house enough to talk to real people and not just the ones in my head. Those guys are fabulous, but I’d like more people that I can talk to in public without getting stared at.
Overall, though, I think I’ve done pretty well this year and I’m so proud of my kids for figuring out what makes them happy when they’re away from home and how they’ve started on the journey to becoming real adults.
I honestly can’t wait to see what the new year brings.
I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season and I hope you have a wonderful 2024.