Recently Youngest (as the name suggests, my last child) has moved to Canada to study and play football.

There is a whole lot to unpack in there. Empty nest syndrome (although Eldest and Middlest are currently in residence on their summer uni breaks). The mother daughter bond. Losing one of my best friends. Suddenly having time. The outrageous levels of admin required to move abroad, even temporarily. 

But now is not the time for those. Maybe over the months to come I will pen thoughtful, moving pieces along those lines. They may help others. Or just be self indulgent. Or boring.

But so far one of the hardest things to deal with is the time difference. She is 8 hours behind us here. So my days have taken on a new pattern.

She is asleep when I wake up. If I wake up at a normal time. And she is surfacing around 3 to 4pm our time. Luckily for me she is an early riser.

Yesterday she called me as she was making breakfast and I sat propped up on the kitchen counter and after the breakfast bar, as she chewed an egg sandwich and the cud (with me). Before I knew it an hour and her washing up had passed. It was almost like she was here. I could nag (gently remind) her to take her iron. We gossiped and other than the lack of her physical presence it was not dissimilar to our usual breakfast routine, except I was missing Pointless (happy to by the way, it’s not the same without Richard Osman).

Then she disappears to training, or out with her new friends, or on an admin errand to a bank or mobile phone shop. Once she starts classes I am not sure she will have that hour. So I am making the most of that now.

Sometimes she is free mid afternoon and we have a chat as I am just about to go to sleep.

And I have now realised that if I get up about 6am I can wish her goodnight. And also catch up on any messages sent over my night (her day). Like today when the bank need a birth certificate, which is in the filing cabinet here. And provide some reassurance.

The up shot of all this is that I am going to bed later and waking earlier. 

So currently the mornings here feel a bit like a desert. Once my other 2 ship back to uni it will just be me arising, rattling round this house. So I need a new routine. I am sure it will come, as humans we are creatures of habit. It will probably involve Wordle.

I’ll just touch on the other stuff. I miss her like crazy, as I did my boys when they left. But I am also immensely proud of what she has taken on at the tender age of just 18. Inspirational.