Spread Your Wings.........Lil One

I think my middle daughter has moved out! lol She hasn't confirmed this yet, but she no longer comes home (1 full week now) and slowly remnants of her are disappearing (clothes, CD's. shoes, ect). I pretty much parent the way I was raised. My parents were raised to be independent adults, they both left their homes at 18, joined the military and never had the need to move back "HOME" anytime a bad situation reared it ugly head ( And believe me there were plenty of times they could or should have), so therefore they raised my siblings and I the same way. We were told during our mouthy teenage years(You know which time I'm talking about, the time where you spewed "I CAN'T WAIT TILL I'M 18 AND I CAN MOVE OUT OF HERE!" )You are all able to move out once and then return because you weren't ready to move out in the first place, (She was soooooo right about that! lol) but the 2nd time you move out, you better be sure it's the right time because there is no coming back home after that. To some it may sound harsh but to us it really made us stop and think hard about leaving the second time.

My older brother returned home the first time after only 1 week out of the nest, he moved into a one bedroom apartment with 3 friends who fought over a stray kitten one brought home, he came home one day to find the kitten had been turned back out on the streets, so he returned to the nest with kitten in his hand and his tail between HIS legs asking Mom if it was OK to move back in! lol.   My older sister never moved back in after she left the first time, and I of course took off to New York right after High School graduation, thinking I had the tiger by the tail only to return before my 22nd birthday.

So I informed all of our children this was to be my rule too, only one return to the nest then you will have to stand on your own to feet and keep flying! It's the only way to raise an independent child I think, I want my children to learn to rely on themselves and then that way they will never be disappointed.     So my middle daughter who will be 19 this month has decided that if she hasn't told me she has officially moved out then this time doesn't count, I say balderdash! It counts! lol She has a job, her own vehicle that she paid for and 18 years of me getting her ready for adulthood, she has moved into a house with a few girlfriends and so far everything is quiet on the western front....... 2 down.....2 to go......but then again they are only 12 and 13.....I wonder if they know about emancipation??? JUST KIDDING!!!!! I want a few more years of guiding them too and I still have few more "I told ya so's" along with a few more "I love you's" to pass along to them! of course the two younger ones are fighting over who gets Amanda's room........little do they know she'll be back.....Don't worry there will be no "I told ya so" on that one, it will be more like a "What took ya so long? and by the way welcome home!"