[summer_gphib]

How old were you when you left home?
I was 18, but I still came home every weekend, and mommy did my laundry. *lol* A lot of my college friends were from the same area, and they always ended up at my house all weekend long. BF went to a different college and we would meet home every weekend. :-) That was all until my junior year when I got my own place.

What was probably one of the biggest challenges that you had when living on your own? Juggling school and work? paying bills? room mates?
I loved living on my own... as long as I was in college my parents gave me a living allowence to cover rent/utilities/food, and I worked on and off for other things.


How has the experience made you feel thus far? What would you change about it?
I learned to be independent. I am so glad that I spent 3 years living all alone in my own apartment. It helped me learn how to be a grown up. I lived alone until I got engaged and then married. :-) And I LOVED it. I did what the hell I wanted when the hell I wanted, with who the hell I wanted. *LOL*

What advice would you give to a parent faced with the prospect of a child that has to leave the nest?
Give help, but step back and let him or her live their own lives. My parents deposited money in my acct. each month, but I had to pay the bills and not blow it. And only one time did I come to them and ask them for more money (the bank had screwed up my acct. and then in an attempt to fix it, they froze my acct, and then all the checks I had written bounced-- but the bank ended up reimbursing me for the fees.)

Under what circumstances would you let your child return home or you would give them help? Divorce, death of a spouse. Otherwise once you're out, you're out!

Which do you think is harder to cope with: a daughter learning to live on her own or a son facing the same thing?
I think it's equal. :-)