Dear ones, that’s it for the year again, are we really celebrating New Year’s Eve 2025/2026 today? Huh? Didn’t we just celebrate it? And now 2026 is just around the corner, I love even years, I was born in an even year myself and so were all our children. Which makes me realise…
There are a few celebrations coming up next year
…OH GOD: I had my first child in 2006 and we start 2026 tomorrow! My big kid is celebrating a milestone birthday and turning 20, and that’s not all: her „little“ twin boy siblings who swept into our lives just two years after her are from 2008, which means they’ll both be 18 and FULL YEARS old!
Do you know what that means for me? That I will soon no longer have a single child in the legal sense! Only adults! Is that crass or crass? I can no longer call a health insurance company for them, can/may/must no longer manage an account, they can drive a car without me, get married, buy houses, wahahaaaaaa.
Long adolescent years, short youth…
When I wrote to Katharina about it a few days ago, she could hardly believe it either, we started here with Stadt Land Mama when our big one was 6 and the boys were 4 and have been with us in our everyday lives and activities ever since. She said that the twins had been 12-14 for an incredibly long time – and then BANG: 18. And somehow that’s true.
Then there are internships, the first cliques, the first loves, the first parties – growing up is exciting and full of so much variety that it all happens so quickly in the end.
Luckily, two more years until graduation
And while the older sister was still 17 when she graduated from high school thanks to G8, the boys are fortunately allowed to repeat year 5 voluntarily and G9 for two more years (and stay at home with mum and dad, what are we going to do when the last child moves out?!).
The children have surprised us a few times this year. Two of them have passed their driving licence for accompanied driving (hello, bank account!), everyone is taking great care of the host sister from the other side of the world, two have moved up to a higher league in football, one has spontaneously moved out and is super happy in the student flat share – to be honest, we parents have to wrap it all up first.
How much everyone has developed this year!
One was in Asia with university, the other was on holiday with another family during the Easter holidays instead of with us and if you ask me, it can continue in the same way next year as far as the kids are concerned.
So much independence, so much growing up, so much self-reflection („So when it comes to helping to empty the dishwasher, maybe we’re not the best role models for the host sister…“, hahahaa, I’m celebrating this self-awareness).
Happy New Year’s Eve 2025/2026
The twins celebrated their 17th birthday in October, want to celebrate their 18th even bigger in autumn and knocked on the door just before New Year’s Eve to ask how we would like a „Hausi“ here in our garden house to start the new year… well… how many people would they have imagined? Well, quite a few… the compromise was that there would be a few less and for safety reasons dad would set off the firecrackers. Will everyone stick to it? Doubtful.
But well, you’re only young once, aren’t you! Happy New Year, have a good one and then let’s organise 2026 in such a way that we can all make a small difference to the people around us. Have a good one and give us a big hug!
