My child is turning 18 in 1.5hrs.

[applemaisy]

My child, won’t be a child in a few hours. Although they’re abroad (already 18 there),they left as a child and coming home to me as an adult! Absolutely crazy! Anyone got any words of wisdom/support on this?
I am shocked at how quickly my child has grown up. How they’re an adult now. I had my child at 16, so they’ve grown up with me. I only had the one. Now i’m like, ‘what do i do?’ I am still young myself, in early 30s.
My tummy hurts non stop that my baby is abroad on a birthday holiday. Its weird.

Aw no advice I'm afraid but hope they have a lovely birthday! Hope you have a lovely celebration when they get back!

It's a lovely thing to celebrate them turning 18 but they are not magically an adult because they are one day older than they were yesterday. They still need you and they are still the same person they were before they went away. Don't let a number change your relationship, it will naturally change and evolve over time.

Aw, I know what you're going through @applemaisy. My youngest will be 18 in a few weeks and I can't believe it!

My son turned 18 during Freshers week at university. He sent me a video in the bar where they cut off his under 18 arm band and gave him an over 18 one! Not much adulting done that night!! We went to take him out for lunch on his birthday....he was too ill to eat! We laughed about it.

I don’t mean to bring a downer here but my daughter was about to turn on 18 on holiday with her mates this past summer and instead we ended up in hospital with a cancer diagnosis for her. She’s doing well on treatment but I would give anything for her to have been on that holiday instead! So count your blessings I guess- the health of your child is everything, and it’s age appropriate that she should be away from you- my daughter is very dependent on us right now and it’s very very wrong having her regress back to the baby stage. Celebrate having an adult child- you’ve done a great job!

Solidarity
My baby is 18 in 6 days. He’s the eldest boy in his year, so back to college today. It would never cross his mind to go abroad alone/with mates. He’s still got a lot of growing up to do in that respect.

Best wishes to you and your daughter.