So I live with my DD 24 and DS 22 who have both come home after university and transitioning into adult life. DD and I are exceptionally close and have find my phone for each other - at her suggestion when she went to university. We both use it and laugh about being nosy - she will ask me to buy bagels when she knows I'm at a cafe that sells them or calls me when she's waiting for me to get home or wants to know why I am where I am,
I got back yesterday from 5 days away on my own in a cottage in Norfolk. It was nice to get time time to myself to explore, swim in the sea etc and have space since it's felt a bit more crowded at home since they both boomeranged back.
So whilst I was away I did my own thing and didn't check up on my DD at all. Chill. Last night both of them went out so I had a nice evening to myself. I went to bed but woke up around 3.30am thinking I hadn't heard either of them come in. My DSs bedroom door was shut but DDs was open with the light on and blinds open - clearly she was still out. I checked find my phone and she appeared to be in a little green space on a road about 1.5 miles away. I texted her to ask if she was okay. No reply, I texted again, I called twice. No reply. You can see my train of thought....
Of course I thought her phone was probably out of juice but I started to feel a bit panicky. I kept thinking 'what's the point of having find my phone if I don't check she's alright?'. So I got up and dressed and went to get in the car to go look for her. As I did, DS walked up to the house. He was surprised she wasn't home because they'd been at the same pub at the end of the night and she'd left before him with a good (trusted) male friend. Instead of being calmed that made me more nervous. We drove off. 10 minutes later she rang - very apologetic - her phone had run out of juice and she and her friend had been walking quite slowly. She was now home.
No harm done. I got back at 3.50am but was a bit wired with adrenalin. DD was hugely apologetic but I was wide awake so didn't get to sleep for at least an hour. Up at 8am and worked a full on day.
I can't recall getting that worried about her safety since she was at school. She lived away from home for years no problem, so what I'm wondering is whether find my phone was actually helpful or not - or whether it disturbed my peace of mind? And why did I get so panicky? Should I feel silly? I am mostly incredibly relaxed about their independent lives.