18Yrold Travelling

[hannah40]

My daughter who is 18 is going travelling for a year. It’s something she has wanted to do now for the last 2 years but now it’s happening I feel quite sad.
I don’t want her to see me crying and I feel silly getting upset.
Is it usual to get upset when your child leaves home?
How do I prevent myself from crying at the airport ?
Also my 90yr old mum is upset .
Any advice how to cope?

[rockyracoon]

I feel your pain. My daughter went to leave in Spain for 10 months and it devastated me. What made it worse was she hated every minute of it but had to stay there for her degree.

[jennyjoan]

If she s on her own. Too young

[tiggerblue10]

Is she going alone of with friends?

[tiggerblue10]

*or not of

[hannah40]

She is going to stay with a family as an Aupair and go to school out there.

[barry1010]

Horrible for you but fantastic opportunity for your daughter, you really do have to plaster a smile on your face and wave her off with love.

[tiggerblue10]

Where is she going? Would you be able to visit?

[hannah40]

Seville Spain. Yes I can visit.

[DTCwordfan]

let her have a mobile phone for occasional or emergency contact...get her godfather/mother to put her on their Amex or equiv card - 'only to be used in an emergency' - if they are on your card, they'll use it, if on the godparents' , they'll think twice and you can have an agreement with your friends to underwrite it if it was to be used. Very close friends and I did this with their daughter disappearing to s.America in her gap year.... Never used but there was a creature comfort element to it.

[rockyracoon]

Seville is beautiful. My daughter was in Salamanca and that was a bleeder to get to.

[Prudie]

There is nothing wrong with being upset. A lot of us go through this, even if they're not going off abroad (which I agree must be worrying) but leaving home for Uni etc happens to many when their child reaches 18. Mine went off to Uni at that age and I cried, it's nothing to try and avoid, it's just natural.

[bhg481]

It's every parent's job to train their children to be capable adults. If you believe you've done your job properly you've nothing to worry about; at 18 she's legally an adult.

[jno]

it's not necessarily worry, bhg, just a feeling of deprivation when your baby leaves home.

At least they can be Instagramming and Facetiming and whatnot all the time. When my sister and I emigrated, separately but at the same time, our mother had to make do with postcards every month or so.

[zebo]

Agree a code word if she is messaging you for help, money etc to ensure that her phone isn't being used in a scam, ditto a word to use in conversations to say she is under duress.

[cashier]

My son went travellng round parts of Asia and then on to Australia. He met a girl from Hong Kong, and after two years of working in Australia, they decided to go to New Zealand. He never came back, married his girl, has a son and they still live in NZ. Wasn't easy to cope with at the time, but you get used to it.

[Hopkirk]

Yes Hannah. Perfectly normal.

[david small]

My daughter did the same at Switzerland. It hurt to say goodbye. She visited several times, each time the goodbyes got a little less painful.
They have to find their own path in life, as we did. I wanted to wrap all my kids in a cotton wool ball. But, they need the freedom and knowledge that your there for them.

[Cloverjo]

Of course you will be upset. She’s your baby. Plaster on a smile at the airport, and have a sob when you get home.

Don’t watch Toy Story 3.