My oldest is home from his second year of college. Everything you say is absolutely true. The scary-ass part I'm learning, tho, is that there are similar upheavals that come when they go. There are more changes to learn to accept and embrace in store, maybe not as immediate and violent as going from no-kid to the 24 hr job literally in a moment... but just as changing. I used to think that was terrifying and exhausting, but I'm learning that the chance for renewal is what makes life so damn interesting and engaging. I think after all we may only really feel the things we can't escape from (which is a strange thing to realize when I had/have a very similar relationship to escape as you describe).
My oldest is home from his second year of college. Everything you say is absolutely true. The scary-ass part I'm learning, tho, is that there are similar upheavals that come when they go. There are more changes to learn to accept and embrace in store, maybe not as immediate and violent as going from no-kid to the 24 hr job literally in a moment... but just as changing. I used to think that was terrifying and exhausting, but I'm learning that the chance for renewal is what makes life so damn interesting and engaging. I think after all we may only really feel the things we can't escape from (which is a strange thing to realize when I had/have a very similar relationship to escape as you describe).