The boys have moved out!

My experience of being dad to Marcus and Michael has just had its biggest ever change, as they have both left home within a few weeks of each other. Which is mostly coincidence, it's not a mutiny because we're mean parents.

Michael is just down the road from us at Jane Franklin Hall. For his 2nd year at uni we wanted him to have a richer and more human experience than he had last year, which was very online and isolated. So far the move has been great for him. He’s met a lot of people, and he seems a bit more focused on his work. He organised a small expedition to the tip shop for about 6 or 8  people, which is a big social undertaking by his standards.

From Jane Franklin it's 20 minutes walk to our house or to the uni in the other direction, and Michael's good friend June is 2 minutes away. This is the view from Michael's room. 

Marcus had gone a little further; to Hong Kong. At the end of his 3-month internship there he was offered a full time job. He started a week ago and it's going very well, getting a little better every day, he says. The financial firm he is working for is called Jane Street, so the boys are both at Janes which is a little confusing. 

Marcus found himself an apartment online before leaving Hobart, and he chose well. It's a good fit for him and about seven minutes walk from the office, in an area called Central. 

Here are some photos he posted to Instagram of his neighbourhood. Around his office all the skyscrapers have luxury stores on the street, like Armani, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton etc.

And this is his building, the grubby light grey one – he walks up 3 flights of stairs and the stairwells are pretty ordinary. But his apartment is clean, new appliances and so on. It's taking him a little time to work out things like where garbage goes, why the washing machine won’t give back his clothes etc.

We have had a few video chats and have been exchanging messages most evenings. It's amazing how nearby he feels at times. He and I watched the footy together a few days after he left, and we will through the winter when we can.

I have to admit I felt pretty down after Marcus left and there was just Elf and I in the house. A lot of people have said to us words to the effect of 'wooo now the party starts right??'. But it just doesn't seem like that to us. 21 years ago we started parenting… and we had only been together less than 2 and a half years. So our time establishing "us" was pretty short and it is now buried pretty deep under years of being mum and dad, co-owners of pets and co-mortgagees. I say well done to anyone who has a clear idea of what they are going to do once the kids are out of their hair.

Meanwhile we see Michael most Sundays for lunch with my mum and dad; and he walks Winston every Thursday. He bought me lunch during the week last week – it's good to see him and he's looking really well.And we had a driving lesson on the weekend too. So life goes on.