<p>peachy4, my mom used to say “let the little birds fly and they will alway come home”. I try to follow that, gnash my teeth in silence when I miss them too much, vent here or to friends or DH but under no circumstances hover or guilt trip them. It seems to work. I usually hear from one or the other or both of my kids most days. They seem to like to come home to visit (although older one a bit less these days). I think it’s a dance and you have to keep your balance and accept that the relationship will change a bit but the ocean of love underneath will always be there – on both sides.</p>
<p>I know I will feel this way come August. I am trying to enjoy D’s senior year, but it is flying by so quickly and there has been such a flurry of college activity and distractions, that it has made it very hard to focus on all of “the lasts” of HS. Maybe this is a good thing. Currently, I am jealous of everyone who already knows where their kid is going in the fall and I am hoping she decides soon. Even if she commits by March 15, that only leaves three months remaining of HS. At least I have my puppy to spend time with.</p>
<p>I miss them, but I also enjoy that I did the mom daily job well and that the daily job has an end date. Now I can look forward to the part-time mom job and watching them create their own lives and families etc. and I can spend more time again with my husband…who was a big part of the reason I was able to do the mom-job. But sure, you miss them…they’ve been there day in and day out for 18 years and then they are not.</p>