On Wednesday Kieran, newly turned nine went off with the rest of the year four children at his school to a two night, three day residential at Carlton Lodge.
His days will have involved kayaking, raft building and sailing, jumping into a big lake, orienteering, climbing up ridiculously high structures and jumping off (along a zip wire) and more. A fantastic opportunity that I’m so pleased the school have organised.
While I’m sure he’s had an absolutely fabulous time and probably not given us a second thought we’ve missed him terribly! This is the first time Kieran’s been away from us and it’s been pretty rough to be honest, not least for Taylor. He’s been sneaking into Kieran’s room to check whether he’s come back yet (since he left), has complained that “nothing is cool when he isn’t here” and “it’s taking too long for him to come back!”. I was happy to hear him also grudgingly say out of the blue that he hopes he’s having fun though.
As a parent you look forward to new experiences and hitting milestones. Kieran going away for the first time is probably the first milestone that I’ve struggled with. I’ve not been concerned for his safety, how he’d cope or whether he’d enjoy himself and I’ve no doubt that it will have been truly epic (as he describes such things). My angst has been totally self-centered. I’ve missed him!
The house has felt weird! More than that though it really has brought to my attention that these little babies aren’t babies anymore. Hardly one to wrap them in cotton wool I’ve been keen to encourage independence. That’s come back to bite me on the backside now! I’m not complaining really, I was pleased to see him leave so confidently.
I do wish that they’d slow down with the whole growing up thing though!
