So. Overnight our household changed. Just like that. No lightening strike. Nor mysterious music playing in the distance. Not even an “if you please“. Nothing. It just happened. Overnight another adult was added to the family (and swapped for one of my children).

Eldest teen has turned 18. Not that it was a surprise. I mean, she has been around for a while. Little step by little step we’ve always been heading in this direction. In day to day life, it makes little difference. Although, I’m sure she’d tell you that she is a bit miffed at certain aspects of being counted as an adult.  As for me, I don’t feel different suddenly being a parent to an adult. Just like everything about parenting, most things change subtly over time, so when the time comes, it doesn’t feel like a cosmic shift.

(She knows I think she’s wonderful.)

(2002, I came, I saw, I conquered)

For her big day, we went to the Walled Garden at Mells and sat on the walled terrace, eating woodfired pizza and soaking in the fragrance of the roses, warmed by the surrounding stones. Home again for birthday cake and presents.

In the evening, we ventured out for the first time, since February, to a restaurant in Bath. Chinese was the birthday girl’s choice. Each table had Perspex moveable walls around them, with the waiting staff wearing masks. I watched as Eldest coached Youngest in the art of chopstick use. She wouldn’t let him give up.

(Sunday walk at Deer Leap)

What next? There are exam results to look forward to in the coming week, although she has her eye on the October exams, so she’s not really overly anxious about her centre assessed grades. They don’t feel real. If the plan stays the same, she hopes to go to University the following autumn, so time is on her side.

After that, I’m so excited to see where she is going. She loves languages, so I suspect she’ll be off and away before long. Fleeting visits home for us all to look forward to. I have moments when I wonder if we’ve taught her enough, but there are many more times when I know we have.

I hope she’ll look back kindly on her childhood in rural Somerset. Maybe revisit old haunts, in years to come.

So much more I could say, but it really is her story. Even more so as time goes on.

(mini meadow in the garden)

 Oh, to be eighteen again!

(PS. If you’re wondering about the rainbow cake and the wrong order, I had a bit of a culinary mishap and they ended up in the wrong order. Let’s call it a carnival cake and leave it there!)

Joining in with Anne’s Word of the Week linky

There are times when I feel that life is rushing ahead of me. I’d like it to slow down. Make the days linger a little bit longer. Each week seems to flick by, with me still standing still or desperately back pedalling. It doesn’t feel like seven days.

I know the reason. We are now on countdown for my eldest leaving school. Not that she is counting. I think she’s as much in denial as me, but hours in the day are allocated to revision. A timetable has assembled itself around us.

I’m not wishing the days away. I want to savour these last few months of having all three of them at school.

To add insult to injury, she will turn 18 soon after she leaves. An adult. Although, to be honest, that won’t seem such a shock to the system, as the end of the school era.

The best way I know to slow down time is to appreciate the moments. Break it up and celebrate events. Make one day stand out from another. One week then feels different to the next. Time slows in a good way.

Take last Saturday. We planted our Leap Day tree and made a day of it. A family event that created a day that was different from any other Saturday. It stands out against the sea of Monday PE kits and Wednesday piano books.

(shop window in Wells)

The next day, we headed in to Wells for a belated birthday meal celebration. It was lovely. We don’t often treat ourselves to a meal out, as they’re often disappointing and leave me feeling that I could produce a better meal at home, for a fraction of the price.

This time was different. The gap between visits probably helps, but the big difference was the table position. Tucked to the side, with a window view, it was perfect. I had a real feeling that we were in a big, sun lit Italian kitchen, being served bowls of pasta. Even the buzz and sound of Italian being spoken around us, made it different.

Not just a meal, but an experience. It will stand out against the sea of meals.

Also celebrated St David’s Day with plates of welsh cakes, at home.I don’t make these often enough, so it felt a treat in itself.

Also this week, my sister’s book was published. Definitely a stand out time.

The daffodils are out. The tree buds are making an appearance. More than once, I’ve ducked after foolishly walking into the flight path of our local quarrelling sparrows, as they noisily fly between the cottage roof and the beech hedge. Unbothered by me. Unaware of me.

I feel spring. The seasons are shifting.

Has it slowed down the week? All this marking of time? I reckon so. Certainly helped. I don’t want it to stop time, just to stop it hurtling by. Frivolous fun, I read one teen councillor suggest, to balance the exam preparation. I think she is right. I’m working on it.

Joining in with Anne’s word of the week. My word is “appreciating”.