The living together thing has had its ups and downs in the last few weeks. Many downs and many adjustments - and fortunately we seem to have come out the other side. None of the issues with my lovely man but his eighteen-year-old daughter. Who is fine - I mean, the Daily Mail would not find anything to write about her, she's not terrorising the neighbourhood and isn't getting pregnant to claim benefits. But there are lots of things that are just niggles, which mount up to become bigger and bigger if one's not careful.
For example, she's incredibly thoughtless, as I understand all teenagers are. And doesn't see things. So will just leave dirty dishes around and expect the fairies to move them. And not think it's ever her turn to do the washing up or to load the dishwasher. Her room is an absolute bombsite, which I can live with because I don't see it, but she doesn't do any washing, cleaning, and in being lazy, there is damage caused, such as leaving towels to ruin the surface of the furniture. That is what annoys me. Oh and leaving on lights, appliances (including her electric blanket - and I could have crowned her grandparents when she opened that present on Christmas day!) and not putting food back into the fridge or covering things, not considering wastage, the usual!
At the same time, she wants to go to uni in September - although with a D and an E in her last round of modular exams, that might not be a forgone conclusion. But that does at least mean just a couple more months. She drives her father just as far up the wall as she does me. And of course, on a good day, she can be fine and pleasant and nice.
Having lived on my own for over a decade, I knew that moving in with other people would be an adjustment. I am incredibly messy by nature and I'm making a huge effort to keep the place tidy - I want it to be tidy and my very lovely man does too, and I do think it's worth it. But when she then has no regard or respect, it really makes me see red!
But as I say, it's getting better. Partly because we're both finding our balance. Partly because she's learning what she can and can't get away with when living with me (her father likes an easy life but it can't be like that, we need to be fair to each other). It's all a but challenging but we're getting there.
Otherwise, I've realised I've not got any exciting holidays planned this year. Next year, we're going to go to New Zealand in January so it's a while and an expensive one. But this year, I only have a short trip planned so far (weekend away for friend's 40th birthday in Germany, where he lives). So ......
