As a teenager I used to live close to University of Birmingham accommodation and the local Sainsburys, where at this time of year, it was teeming with freshers and their parents. I remember being annoyed at them getting in the way, adding to queues and generally being an inconvenience. The reality was I was jealous of the care and attention these new students were getting on the eve of this new adventure in a new city. Fast forward more decades than I want to consider, and this weekend, I was that parent fussing whether my first born had his university food shopping in place. Now at 18  I nearly had the full set of parenting experiences; birth, first words, walking, first drop off at nursery/school, etc and thought I was well prepared. I was wrong. I’ve never launched a young person into adulthood before and didn’t realise the depth of grief it would provoke. I know he’ll be back during his holidays and with the current housing/renting crises could be back to live at home again at some point, but, it’s more than that. It is simply the end of his childhood and I just have to accept it.

Till next time,

Matt