With this being the time when loved ones are being waved off to university, I thought I would write a quick blog about those of us left behind.

My nest isn’t quite empty yet as, although Olly – our eldest – is in his third year at Birmingham Conservatoire, our youngest, Joe, has decided to stay local and started an apprenticeship in sales and business administration. But, as we see a lot less of Joe due to his long working day, it does seem extremely quiet in the house, and I can sympathise with those of you left with that deathly stillness after the teenage maelstrom of the summer.

As parents, we know that one day our children will step out into the wide world, but it doesn’t stop us worrying about them. It sounds silly now but one of the things I worried about when Olly went away was his road sense. His Halls of Residence in Birmingham were on a really busy road, and he had to cross over the Aston highway on the way to lectures, several lanes of busy traffic, and he helpfully told me that sometimes the pedestrian traffic lights didn’t work! Living in the tiny village of Cotton, he wasn’t prepared for these sorts of hazards! But somehow he obviously managed, and now is so street-wise, a real city boy who finds us all extremely provincial.

Although those first few weeks were hard, I realised that I needed to just get on with my own life, trusting in the knowledge that Olly would be ok, he was doing what he loved to do in a city that he felt comfortable in. No doubt there have been hard times, but he has gained so much in maturity over the last two years and is incredibly independent now. Maybe not financially, however, but that’s another story!

For those of you who are packing off their loved ones as I am writing this blog, I send you – and them – my very best wishes.

They will be fine.

Wendy x