Child living at home, that is.
The College grad is now living and working in DC (1,000 miles away) and the College Guy started last week and moved into his dorms.
Apart from having a severe impact on the hearts of me and the 12 year old (who cried in bed the first night and said his "heart hurt"), it has had quite the impact generally.
We are making too much food. It's a bit of a learning curve to go from meals for five (four of them grown adults) to meals for three (including a 12 year old). Last night we had a chicken, rice and veg bake thing, and there were four (why four?) large pieces of chicken in it. I now have to figure out what to do with the leftovers, or feed it to the dog over a few days.
We are buying too much food. The departures, coupled with suspected lactose intolerance in the 12 year old, means that we no longer have need of a gallon of milk at every purchase. I have four loaves of bread in the freezer that will probably stay there until the Peanut Butter & jelly sandwich monster (aka. the College Guy) comes home for a visit.
There is virtually no laundry. Okay, that one might be an exaggeration - we do have a 12 year old boy after all. But nothing is spilling over and the College Guy's laundry basket is no longer in the hallway outside his bedroom. (Never was quite sure why it was there in the first place. He has a large bedroom, but it was obviously easier just to keep his laundry basket right outside the laundry room....)
The hallway outside their bedrooms is now flooded with light. Their doors are open and the curtains are drawn. We will save a fortune in light bulbs now that we can see where we're going.
My possessions stay where they are supposed to be - ie. in my bedroom and closet. No more retrieving "borrowed" items from messy bedrooms.
I now have three pairs of scissors that I last saw in 2012. Why do scissors always disappear?
It's way too quiet.
I can relate to a lot of this and we have only gone from three to two. But a big difference in food shopping and laundry for me - and yes, rethinking quantities for recipes was something I had to get used to as the freezer was filling up with leftovers.
ReplyDeleteHope you all adjust soon and the little guy's heart starts to mend.
I can relate too. When we sent our only one off a few years ago life did indeed change around here. Only to fall back into the usual routine when he comes home for vacation/summer.
ReplyDeleteYes, I need that readjustment period, when the holidays are over and the kids are eating at school. Too much food for a few days. It's odd - you'd think we'd figure that one out immediately.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine...there will, I am sure, come and day when we don't have to buy 8 pints of milk at the supermarket on a weekend and that will only last till Thursday. But we aren't there yet.
ReplyDeletePersonally I am enjoying the reduction in laundry now the boys are back at school and wear the same uniform (bar socks, pants etc) all week.
We just got back from leaving #2 at his dorms in NYC, and are going through much the same thing, although I am wildly envious that you still have one at home. The dog, on the other hand, thinks she has died and gone to heaven.
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