My children were able to attend university in London and lived at home until they finished their degrees. It was an arrangement we agreed upon and was ideal as they were able to attend university without having to worry about laundry, meals, rent, and all other maintenance that they otherwise would have had to be concerned with if they had pursued their degrees at universities outside London. Living at home allowed them to study and finish with a first class degree.

My daughter qualified on a Friday and got married the next day. It was heartbreaking because she never lived away from home. That was when I went through the separation anxiety mothers go through. All of a sudden I was setting the table for three rather than for four and she was not there to wake up to or kiss and hug before bedtime along with the other things that mothers and daughter share. My son landed a job the day after he finished university and moved into his own place a year after he started work. We still have dinner four nights a week since his place is only a few minutes away from me. Their rooms are just the way it has always been when they were home but then again, both children still consider where I am their home.

It is most heartbreaking when children grow up and leave home. One sometimes feels so redundant as a parent because now, the practicalities of day to day tasks and decisions are now theirs to consider. I can only pray that the children I have nurtured with love continue to make those decisions with God in the centre.