No more pack lunches

 

My role as a mum stops now, right now, no mum no more. Well not on a daily basis anyway.

Today is the day that my 14yo son got on a plane and left Johannesburg to live in the UK.  No we won’t be following him shortly, we’re staying put. Although we will make regular visits and him back here. His Dad, 2 brothers, sister, grandparents are all in the UK, there are pupils at the school who were in his prep school.

I will always be mum but I will no longer be parenting him. I’ve signed that over to a school in Gloucestershire. I know what I’m doing, I did it before, intrusted my son to Matron at a boarding school, but then we were only 4 miles away, we had 3 other boys at home. Now we are 6000 miles away, OK the 18yo is still at home, but he doesn’t really need parenting anymore, he drives my car, he does the food shopping, he is ‘mums taxi’ these days, mainly because he always needs my car. He has his own ‘wing’ of the house. Bedroom, lounge, study, bathroom, front door. He comes and goes as he pleases but with respect to us.

The youngest wants to go back to the UK, he says he’ll miss the cat and the dog, the pool, his brother, but he hasn’t said he’ll miss us. We’ll be back in the UK the first week of September to settle him into his new school, to take charge of his unpacking. Then I think the reality will hit home, we’ll be leaving him behind.

I know I’m going to miss him.