Independence

Independence: we seem to be talking about nothing else in our house at the moment.  Scottish Independence, for one thing, but also, more importantly, teenage independence.  As Julie's friends start to think about where they will go for university, it is starting to dawn on her that there could be advantages to not staying at home.  At the same time, Joe and I are wondering if keeping her at home now is really in her best interests.

Julie is still set on staying at home to study.  But now she has started asking, how do young adults acquire independent living skills?  For most of her friends it will be at university, usually starting with the relative shelter of a hall of residence. If she misses out this stage, could she still learn some of these skills while living at home?

We come up with plenty of ideas - managing more of her finances, cooking her own meals, doing her own laundry - but I can't help feeling that this is not quite what Julie means by independence.  I suspect she feels, just like other young people, like getting away from home and sorting out how to live life herself, not do chores!  She wants to escape home, meet lots of other people her own age, try something new, and forget about Mum and Dad.  If only there were somewhere I could go, she says wistfully, just for a while, to be independent.  There is, I realise, and it is called university.