The last week or so I have been working on the logistics of getting my baby’s stuff moved back from Melbourne. She went down there with two suitcases of stuff but is returning with far more.

Packing up her little flat will occupy her for the next week or so and she will be back home in under a month.

It will be so lovely having her home. It will also be less stressful for us both. There have been occasions in the past year where we have both been very conscious of the distance between us. When crises arose in her daily life there was no opportunity to give her the comforting hug she so needed. It was just the voice on the phone and the reassurances that everything would be ok that had to suffice to get her through the the problems.

Like the time she phoned in tears because she was having an anxiety attack and couldn’t breathe. Talking her through it, sharing a cup of tea across the phone was nowhere near as comforting for her as it would have been had we been in the same room.

Then last night when she was stranded because of trackwork and had to walk home late at night, the hour on the phone keeping her company was not really as easy a way to comfort her as calling her a cab and paying for it when she got home would have been had she been here in Sydney. heartbreaking to read her tweet that she wanted her mum or a hug.

But she will be home soon and I can look after her, make sure she gets proper meals and hug her when she needs a hug.

I wonder though will we still live tweet at one another when we are watching the shows we both love? Or would that be a bit odd?

Will we still call one another 4 or 5 times a day? Or will there no longer be a need?

She will be very busy with all her friends here so there will not be as many nights at home together as there were a year ago, because she’s more independent now. Living away from home has given her a maturity that she may not have acquired to quickly had she been here in the nest.

The six months at home will pass quickly and then she will be off again. We will love this time together and cherish it. But I am proud of her for taking the huge step of moving away to another state to live alone for the past year. It was worth all the sacrifices to give her a chance to do this.

But she will be home soon and I can look after her and give her the support that she needs when she needs a hug or a word of re-assurance.