HELP! My DD is turning 18!!!!

[Whisper]

I am very emotional about this whole thing. And to top it off, she and I have been arguing over stupid little things lately. She said yesterday that she is going to move out. This from the girl who said not too long ago that she was never leaving and she would stay with me and be my gardener!

Now she says I get on her nerves!

And truth be told, she gets on mine!

But I don't want her to go!!! Ever!!!

I feel like 18 years have gone by -- where did they go?? I can remember going through things and thinking it was forever -- "terrible twos" etc....and now...now...

[peggy]

(((Whisper))) I'm there with you!! My DD is 17 and a half, looking at colleges, loving me one minute and thinking I'm the stupidest woman on earth the next!!

The time did go by just too fast!!

peggy

[lovemykid]

Thank you for the reminder to take the time to appreciate each day. It does go sooo fast. My DD is 9 and I just realized she is half way to 18

[dfoy]

My dd # 1 turns 18 in a couple of weeks. How the time has flown!

She's either hurt that she doesn't feel part of the family anymore (she's NEVER home.....work, school, musical, marching band, chamber singers, NHS, KEY club, friends...........) and then the next minute she's out the door in a huff because something didn't go her way.

There are days that I am sad that she will be going away to school and other days I can't wait for her sassy little mouth to go to college! I know that sounds horrible, but, honestly, some days she drives me nuts! And I, too, must be the stupidest woman on the face of the earth some days to her. Other days, she stops by my room at school (she attends the same school where I teach) on her way home (or work) just to chat. Sometimes she leaves cute little notes on my desk that I will find during the school day that tell me to have a great day or that I'm a great mom. Just like when she was little and would make me bookmarks that had a picture of a little girl with her arms stretched out wide and in her printing underneath the picture it said "I love you this much". I still find them occassionally when I open a book I haven't looked at in awhile.

OK....maybe I'm not ready for her to go away to college just yet.

[Whisper]

Thanks everyone for not making me feel so alone! Reading some of the other posts here I kind of felt that I was the only mom whose daughter thought she was uncool some of the time! : All in all we've got a good relationship...she's so supportive of me! She is the only one who will notice when I've straightened a shelf or washed the floor or some dumb thing that it is nice to have noticed, you know, that seems so trivial to everyone else...and the thing about letting things go..well as I said we have been getting on each other's nerves lately but right after I typed the first post I decided that I was going to let go of those little things. Her moods and her demanding nature were not going to *get* me...because I love her so much. And if she did walk out that door and for whatever reason I would never see her again, what would any of that little stuff mean? NOTHING!!! That goes for anyone and everyone we love. {{{SIGH}}} Loving equals risk.

And I know the goal of having kids is to raise them to eventually go off on their own and be awesome people in the world...which I know my daughter is and will be...and I know she couldn't afford to live on her own yet, so she's here for a while yet! Like it or not!!! And I do know what you mean about sometimes wishing they WOULD go!!! Mothering is such an emotional rollercoaster!!!
But nothing else is more worthwhile.