I will be 46 in 7 days time.

There is no escaping teenagers. My peaceful respite from the dramas of parenthood was interrupted by my 17 year old daughters call mid afternoon with a request to "to ring me back immediately". What now, the rent has bounced, she has no food, her flat mate still hates her brother and her hair straighteners don't work. All reasonable scenarios. Of course I was worried, her transition from rural French life to a student experience in the big city has not been without it's problems, for all of us. We are on a small income after years of apparently having a good life although I only remember the "life" part of it. Ill health has brought some serious changes to our family and the way we live and as a consequence we have had to make some sacrifices to send her to college. Of course throwing a naive girl into the materialistic cess pit of uk life was a concern, but we were happy to be "one down and 3 to go" so we hardened our hearts... Consumerism always had the potential to make more of a mark on this particular teenager than the others and she has shown already that it is indeed possible to enjoy ones self, without guilt, on your parents money and has taken to the challenge with incredible stamina. Despite our resolve to let her get on with her own life and as a good mum, I called her back immediately, throwing to the wind at the cost of a call from france to a uk mobile. Projects were becoming too much, a drop in her hours at work posed a problem for all of us financially and homesickness was resurfacing after her brothers visit ended disastrously. This had all contributed to an emotional week so I picked up the phone and dialled, held my breath and prepared for the "please can I come home hysterical sobbing speech" instead ....... "what's the difference between haddock and cod because I'm in the supermarket and I don't know which one I like. "
welcome to my life.