The nest has emptied...for real this time
People say the teen years are designed to cause so much friction between children and parents that all parties are thrilled when the kid skips out to college or a new place where they can stay up all night, never make the bed and roll around in their filth at will. While Alison is no stranger to rolling around in her own filth - one of the things she most celebrates is not having to make her bed every day as decreed by the Captain and I don't want to know how infrequently she washes her sheets when she lives away from here - we never really had crazy friction. Which is great until it comes time to really separate. Those first days of day care, Kindergarten, summer camp, college are just prep work for the day when your kid moves out for a real job that means no more summer vacation. And its worse when that move-out is states away. But it's the right step. A necessary step. Did we cry. Sure, we cried. Some of more than others. But we also laughed and hugged and talked about how g