[Ksyrup]

I'm sure everyone has their own way of dealing with it, but I think you'll see the natural growth of your kids as their own people (then adults) and realize it's time. It will still be sad, but neither of my kids would do good being in our house 24/7. Hell, Mackenzie is barely home most nights between basketball, her BF and hanging out with friends at other sporting events.

I'd say of all the things that happened as they grew up, getting a drivers license changed both kids the most. I think they both had that realization of what freedom really looks like. After that, both of them became way more independent.

I'm also ready for another stage in life. It's one of the reasons I insisted we not have a third kid (the primary reason being, as my parents always said, getting a table for 4 is much easier than a table for 5). We had Caitlin at 28 and had issues conceiving (I'm sure I posted about it nearly 20 DAMN YEARS AGO ON THIS BOARD!) which delayed Mackenzie's birth for 4.5 years. We had originally tried for 2 years apart. Having the second kid at 33, I was just dead-set against being a full-time parent well into my 50s.

So, now that I'm here, I'm pretty content with letting both kids go become their own people.