Dreading the empty nest AGAIN

As Eleanor Steafel moves back out after going home for lockdown, her mum Penny Healy gets ready to miss her children once more

- ELEANOR STEAFEL

‘I TRIED NOT TO REVERT TO BEING THEIR BOSSY MUM’

Penny Healy, 59, lives with her husband in west London.

My children teased me that I was ‘living my best life’ in lockdown and, in some ways, they had a point. Many of my friends were unable to see their families, whereas my 20-somethings all moved home – and it was, I’m slightly ashamed to say, pretty blissful.

However much you might encourage your offspring in their bids for independence and know it’s right for them to fly the nest, it also feels a bit like you’ve lost a limb when they finally do. So it felt like a bonus to have them back for a bit. Waking up every morning and knowing they were all there was a great salve in these difficult times. Until that is, I came downstairs to the mound of shoes and general detritus in the hall.

I had to remind myself that they are adults and used to running their own lives. I tried, often unsuccessfully, not to revert to being their bossy mum, brimming with unsolicited advice and opinions. They, on the other hand, we're never short of observations about how their parents could do this and that differently.

There were many moments when these ‘adults’ seemed rather more like their younger selves, squabbling about nothing and storming off. But there were a lot of laughs, too – usually at my expense.