When My Last Kid Launches I'm Going To... [A Wishful Thinking Game for Homeschooling Parents]

[cave canem]

9 minutes ago, Gil said:

No offense, but I wouldn't let my in-laws weigh in on educational decisions for my children so I feel it would be hypocritical to put my hopes on the idea that my child and their partner will let me make those decisions for their kids down the line.

I'm not one of the grandchild-homeschooling-hopefuls, but I think it's possible to offer a lot of help with homeschooling without wresting substantive decisions away from the parents.  We used tutors for entire subjects without their making decisions we didn't cede to them. 

People use babysitters without handing over parenting to the sitter.

[Tap]

I would like to take various art classes. Preferably a different medium each time.  Painting, sculpting, glass blowing, whatever I can find.  I used to be an art major in college. I had babies at 22 and never really did anything after that. I can't have a split focus when I am in that mode so I can't just find time/space now. It is really a mental deep dive for me.

IF/when DD16 leaves (or can live independently with guidance), I really want to try to see if I still have some talent left in me or if it all withered away with 20 years of stress. 

BF is applying for a promotion. If he gets it, he wants me to consider quitting my job in the next 18 months. That will coincide with both of our last kids turning 18 and graduating.  We can easily live on what he makes now, and if he gets this promotion, we will just spend more on luxuries. We both like the idea of a more quality life vs more money....hence using the $$ to buy my freedom from work and changing my path.

[Gil]

I want to try a couple of water sports--Jet Skiing and Kite Surfing.

[gardenmom5]

Make over a kid bedroom into my own office/craft room/lair.
I can dream.

[Forget-Me-Not]

10 hours ago, Grace Hopper said:

I would love to go back to university - actually move into an on-or-adjacent campus residential situation and study all the useless things I’m actually interested in learning about. 
 

Just haven’t figured out what to do with dh. 😂 (jk, he’d be supportive but would not want to move into a dorm 😂)

 

I have a recurring dream where I move into a dorm situation and go back to school, leaving my husband and kids at home. I have no idea why, as this idea does not appeal to me in my waking hours (if I’m going to live with adolescents, it’ll be the ones I grew myself thanks). 
 

I have one about 75% launched (lives away at college) and 3 at home full time. I’m no longer homeschooling and I’m at a weird crossroads where I don’t know what I would like to do with myself, nor where to start. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Dh will be in his early 70s by the time the twins are ready to go.. 

[Melissa in Australia]

6 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

Make over a kid bedroom into my own office/craft room/lair.
I can dream.

I did this when DD left home. I turned it into my sewing room. LOVE IT

[DawnM]

Probably be ready for a nursing home (ok, I am being a bit dramatic)......when A finally launches I will be pushing 70.   DH and I just realized that that means when we retire, he will still be in high school and we can not go to a 55 and older community until we are 70.   

We will be tied to schools and school schedules, etc....unless something drastic happens, we do not plan to homeschool him at all.   I will work until retirement and by then we will be finishing up 8th grade.

Edited July 4, 2023 by DawnM

[mom2scouts]

10 hours ago, Gil said:

Hey, I know this is a game-thread and Not to be a party pooper, but to those of you dreaming about homeschooling grandkids...I am curious.. What do you plan to do between the time that your YA launches and has a school aged child? Unless you're kids have reproduced at some point between the of 12-18 years old (which is possible, I know) , it's going to be a while until a hypothetical grand child exists and is ready to be homeschooled?

Also, who's to say that your Future child-in-law will want you that involved in their childs life?

No offense, but I wouldn't let my in-laws weigh in on educational decisions for my children so I feel it would be hypocritical to put my hopes on the idea that my child and their partner will let me make those decisions for their kids down the line.

I have two years before my youngest graduates from high school and I'm done homeschooling. My oldest grandchild will be 5 years old and starting K that same year, so it's definitely possible. I have a 17 year gap between my oldest and youngest children. In my case, I have no plans to homeschool grandchildren, but I have heard of homeschooled adults who would welcome having their parents homeschool their children.

[wintermom]

I'm honestly not sure what 'successful launch' will look like for each of my dc. I'd also not like to 'put my life on hold' for something that's out of my control. I realize that this is a light-hearted thread, though, and I'll play along...

I'd love to live in a 'sea town' for at least a year, which to me would be a smallish town/village on a coast with salt water. It could be in my own country or a different one, though my own is more likely. 

[wintermom]

I'm kind of living a little bit of life as if my dc were successfully launched, but with the added bonus that there are young adults still in the house to watch over it and the pets so dh and I can get away for little vacations near and far, and also play a lot of tennis. 😉 

Life is too short, and I'm getting older, so I simply can't wait for everyone to get out of the house before I do some really fun things. 

[Grace Hopper]

11 hours ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

I have a recurring dream where I move into a dorm situation and go back to school, leaving my husband and kids at home. I have no idea why, as this idea does not appeal to me in my waking hours (if I’m going to live with adolescents, it’ll be the ones I grew myself thanks). 
 

I have one about 75% launched (lives away at college) and 3 at home full time. I’m no longer homeschooling and I’m at a weird crossroads where I don’t know what I would like to do with myself, nor where to start. 

I can say for myself - not sure that this applies to you - that part of the reason I fantasize this is likely because I am jealous of my kids as they go off to that stage of their lives. New adventures. Dining in the meal hall with new friends. So much stimulating conversation! The food may not be great, the accommodations not great, but the ability to just be and learn without household obligations and responsibility for other people… it’s so appealing to me. I don’t think I’m alone in the thought that if I could go back to that time with the wisdom of tough living in my pocket, I’d enjoy it more and make better choices. 
 

Of course the reality would be different than the fantasy, but a gal can dream. 

[Hannah]

Youngest went to university this year, so we have an empty house. I will continue to work full-time to pay for the kid's studies. I enrolled for an Advanced Certificate in Financial Coaching in preparation for my encore career when I retire from corporate life. I've also started art classes.

If money were no object I'd be traveling around the world on the 5-year world tour.

[000000000]

  . 

Edited November 24, 2023 by 000000000

[KidsHappen]

My plan was to sit in my recliner and read all the books. In reality I am helping raise and homeschool grandkids. One thing I do enjoy is that almost everything is exactly where I left it so I can always find whatever it is I am looking for. Something that we are looking forward to is being able to travel.

[Kela]

That won't be for quite a long time...but the first thing that comes to mind is to clean my house!! 🤣

[smfmommy]

On 7/3/2023 at 8:00 PM, Gil said:

Hey, I know this is a game-thread and Not to be a party pooper, but to those of you dreaming about homeschooling grandkids...I am curious.. What do you plan to do between the time that your YA launches and has a school aged child? Unless you're kids have reproduced at some point between the of 12-18 years old (which is possible, I know) , it's going to be a while until a hypothetical grand child exists and is ready to be homeschooled?

I have been told that I am expected to teach my grandkids math.  lol  We'll see what actually happens when we get there.  I am theoretically a year or two away from having my first grand child.  My girls so far have declared their interest in homeschooling so I may be able to have my own cottage school.  :-)

We are looking forward to moving into a smaller house.  A simple thing I am looking forward to is being able to watch a show just for us early in the evening rather than having to wait until we can kick everyone out of the living room.  We've talked about a cruise forever so will probably do that too.  I am considering the PhD I chose not to pursue after college, but I don't really know what I would want to study.  

[Terabith]

On 7/3/2023 at 4:45 PM, Gil said:

I've got two Sophomores and a two year old.
When The Boys launch, the 2yo will be 5 and will be probably be treated like a grandchild.

She's just going to accompany us and reap the benefit of being there as we live our best lives without The Boys for a while.

 

Wait, what???  You have a 2 yo too?  And you're married?  All these years, I thought it was just you and the boys!  

[Condessa]

I would love to participate in the Extreme Mustang Makeover.  I did some horse training as a teen and really miss working with horses, and I would love to get back to it once I’m no longer spending all my time and treasure on these small people.  I hope I will get the chance before my last kid(s) have all flown, though, as I currently have a 1-year-old and am hoping to have one more, and late fifties seems to be pretty old to start breaking wild horses.  Maybe when my older 4 have launched so I have more time and the youngest is around 8 or 10.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Condessa

[Gil]

11 hours ago, Terabith said:

Wait, what???  You have a 2 yo too?  And you're married?  All these years, I thought it was just you and the boys!  

LOL, @Terabith I was single, not gay!

A few years ago, there was a woman who was crazy enough to actually marry me. I don't know if she'd make the same mistake twice, but it's too late now, lol.

And in defense of the 2 year old, she is only 2-years-old. She's kinda new around these parts.

[Terabith]

1 hour ago, Gil said:

LOL, @Terabith I was single, not gay!

A few years ago, there was a woman who was crazy enough to actually marry me. I don't know if she'd make the same mistake twice, but it's too late now, lol.

And in defense of the 2 year old, she is only 2-years-old. She's kinda new around these parts.

So when does Gil’s preschool start?

[Gil]

When my last kid launches, I'm going to get more active in the world of endurance sports.

[Gil]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:38 PM, Terabith said:

So when does Gil’s preschool start?

Putting her in Preschool would be a waste of money since currently our work schedules are such that one of us is able to always be home with her.

[Terabith]

3 minutes ago, Gil said:

Putting her in Preschool would be a waste of money since currently our work schedules are such that one of us is able to always be home with her.

Well, I wouldn't expect you to.  But I'm imagining little Pal and Buddy's education was already well underway by age 2!

[Gil]

3 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Well, I wouldn't expect you to.  But I'm imagining little Pal and Buddy's education was already well underway by age 2!

Oh. Don't ask me how or why, because I could not tell you but I misread and misinterpreted the question about preschool as "When do Gil's (kids) start preschool" as a way of asking "when are you enrolling her into a preschool"

 

 

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, Gil said:

Oh. Don't ask me how or why, because I could not tell you but I misread and misinterpreted the question about preschool as "When do Gil's (kids) start preschool" as a way of asking "when are you enrolling her into a preschool"

 

 

Oh gosh no!  So sorry!

[Miss Tick]

Are we going to have another naming thing for Gil's preschool?

Gil's One and Only Big-girl Expository Rhetorical School (GOOBERS) or something?

[Indigo Blue]

When my last kid launched, I:

Bought myself a nice bike and rekindled my childhood love of riding my bike around everywhere. I don’t get to ride it around everywhere now, but I still love it just as much. 
 

turned a bedroom into an exercise room/office. 
 

began doing some yoga at home. 

[Gil]

8 hours ago, Terabith said:

Well, I wouldn't expect you to.  But I'm imagining little Pal and Buddy's education was already well underway by age 2!

Nah, The Boys (I think) were closer to 2.5 or maybe even 3 when I started working regularly with them and they're Irish Twins, so it's harder for me to "pinpoint" an exact age without actually looking back at some records that I don't have handy.

Irregardless, Amiga's being raised a bit differently than Buddy and Pal in a couple of ways. But mostly: I have no nifty acronym for a Preschool 😐 . So ya'know there's that insurmountable barrier.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Gil
Trimmed the rambly TMI fat.

[Gil]

2 hours ago, Miss Tick said:

Are we going to have another naming thing for Gil's preschool?

Gil's One and Only Big-girl Expository Rhetorical School (GOOBERS) or something?

Oh dang, I didn't see this sooner. See the above reply 😛

[Shoeless]

I'd be delighted to help homeschool potential future grandchildren, but I'd be like "Are you sure? How about just one day a week?"

I don't want to step on anyone's toes, plus I never, ever, ever want to deal with local homeschool group drama again.  I don't want to be responsible for organizing anything, setting up park dates, bringing snacks for parties, facilitating friendships, none of that.