How old were you when you left home?

I "left home" when I was 17. Actually my folks ended up moving to another state and were kind (and wise) enough to let me stay behind to finish by senior year. It was a great experience. Though I wasn't responsible for supporting myself, I did have to budget, balance a check book and take care of things like checking the oil in my car and airing up my tires.
Now when I look back though, I think I would have liked to have had a little longer to not have to worry about all those little details of life. My oldest ('04) is alot like me. He's so grown up and will be fine on his own, but part of me wants to yell: "Don't grow up so fast, you have lots of time ahead of you!" But.... we all know how much control we have over that. Right?


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"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby, Hall of Famer

I didn't leave home till I had completed college ... commuted all 4 years because we could barely afford tuition and books, let alone added living expenses outside the home. We were poor, what can I say.

Is it any wonder I don't let my kid go to school more than 30 miles away? At least our umbelical cord is longer than the one between my mom and me ...


H-mom
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We learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp; some are dull; some are pretty;
some have weird names; all are different colors.
And they all have to learn to live in the same box.

I moved out at 18, own apartment, full time job, car payment, bills the whole thing.. While I learned alot from it.. I wish I had stayed home a few more years just to enjoy those years a bit more freely without all the stess I put myself under.. guess that is why I am dying to stop work now.. I need my playing years.

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"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole."

"JustMom"

Did we all graduate YOUNG back in the olden days! Like many of the above posts I also was 17 when I left for college (seems like everyone is older than that these days). After college I got married right away and moved across state and supported my husband while he attended Dental School. Altho I am extremely happy with my life....I sometimes look back and think that if I had it to do all over again I wouldn't have gotten married so young. I'd keel over if my son told me he was getting married at 21! And....I wouldn't want to be the girl who tried to get MY son to settle down at such a young age!

I joined the Air Force on a delayed enlistment when I was 17, but did not leave for basic trng. until after graduation by which time I had turned 18.

I started taking college classes while still in high school, continued during my 4 years in the military, got married and finally finished my degree by the time my oldest was 4.

I got kicked out at 17 for being a troublemaker. Still trying to figure out if anything has changed!

"I love the HSBBW"

My leaving home was much more gradual--I did the "leave for college 400 miles away" thing after high school (18 y.o.) but came home summers my first two years. After junior year I was ready to cut more ties and stayed near campus, worked and supported myself totally for the first time, much to my parents' chagrin. BUT that experience taught me something about what working for a living entailed and made me realize the academic path I was on wasn't going to lead to a very happy existence after I was out of school. I ended up taking a year off of school and moving back with my parents for a year while I sorted myself out. I got a job, took a night class, but the whole dynamic between my parents and me had changed and it was clear I was staying with my parents in their home as opposed to living in my own. After a year I moved back north where I felt my real home now was. Haven't left since.

Big..nothing has changed!!!

GO NAVY!!!

My son and I had an amusing discussion before he left for NAPS.He made it point that he would be guaranteed housing for the next 10 years and that he would never have to live under my roof again.

My response..."Baby I love you, but don't let door hit you in ***!"

GO NAVY!!!

I went to college when I was 17 and worked for the US Forest Service every summer thereafter. It was beautiful out there surveying the woods. Best job I ever had.

Like, which time?

I left home to go to boarding school when I had just turned 16. My parents and I were extremely close, it was just that I had pretty much outgrown, academically, the rural school system where I had grown up and needed to spread my wings. I was incredibly homesick for several months but then I was fine. So watching my children leave home at 18 will not be so bad. As I watch the college application process, I am having a hard time remembering if anyone was riding herd on ME to get MY appications done! I don't think so, but then again that was too long ago to remember

Interesting thread that stirs some mixed feelings. I left for college at 18 and was self-supporting from that point on. Paid for college with academic scholarships and loans. Tried to move back to my parent's house the summer after freshman year, but after one week it wasn't working and I moved out and lived at a friend's house. I had decent-paying summer jobs, found cheap places to live every summer, learned to live on cheap food, and graduated with lots of loans.