For the first time in many years, I'm living alone again at age 52.
Both of my children are now living with their significant others at their respective SO's parents' homes. Such is the reality of the Los Angeles economy and insane rents coupled with stagnant wages! My daughter is 30 years old, and my son is 27. My son was the last one to leave.
This feels weird. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but the quiet now has a different feel to it. I'm glad I have my two cats as company!
As a mom/parent, I'm happy. We hopefully raise our kids to be independent, functioning adults! It's just that this is an indication of how quickly the time has passed. When you're in the middle of raising your kids, it seems like it'll never end - especially when they're little and very demanding. Seriously, though, if you blink you miss it!
By the way, my daughter is applying to graduate school to become a speech therapist. My son is trying to get promoted at Ralphs (local supermarket chain owned by Kroger). He currently makes $15/hour, which is nothing here.
My children took very different paths; my daughter is all about education. My son saw that she couldn't get a decent job (she graduated in 2009, so you can just imagine...), and he decided not to go into debt with tons of student loans. I still wish he had at least completed his AA, because a high school graduate just doesn't have many career options. He's lucky to be working at Ralphs, which is union; he has great benefits.
We had many challenges as a family, and I raised them by myself from 1997 on (they were 11 and 8), and yet somehow I've raised my kids to be amazing, wonderful people. It can be done, so everyone hang in there!
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