"Give me a flash-in-the-pan tantrum over the emotional rollercoaster of teenage girls any day"

By Carole Haswell, Financial Planner

Now one of her daughters has left home, financial planner Carole Haswell from Windsor is contemplating life as an empty-nester. Theatre trips, or perhaps a family holiday… they will come back for a paid holiday after all!

Ten years ago, when my children were nine and six, we got a dog called Winnie. We did a bit of research and liked the sound of a Welsh Terrier, noting that the breed has an expected life span of 12 to 15 years. Great, we thought, she’ll last until the youngest is at uni and then we’ll get our freedom again.

Oh Lordy, what were we thinking?

I remember when the girls - Miranda, now 19 and Lilian, now 17 - were tiny, looking at parents of older teenagers and assuming that their job was pretty much done. That must be nice, I thought. See how big and capable those children look. No more staying in night after night because getting a babysitter is too much effort or expense. No more thinking up dinners that could accommodate everyone’s after-school timetable without congealing into a disgusting mess. No more tantrums. No more holding back on the swearing or hiding the chocolate. How green that grass looked.

And how wrong can you be? Give me a flash-in-the-pan tantrum any day of the week rather than the emotional rollercoaster that is teenage girls. Give me the seven o’clock bedtime instead of the lying awake waiting for the front door to click and knowing they are safely in. Give me the certainty of their routine over the chaos of a fledgling adult’s lifestyle.