I enjoyed having my children around but once they became adults it does become bothersome. They are not copies of you and your spouse and you want to treat them as individual adults, however being a parent doesn’t ever really take a back seat. The best way for us to perserve our relationship as parent and child and still treat them as adults was to see them go on their own and be independent. I didn’t consider my job as completed till they were both able to be fully independent. Do I miss them, yes. But mostly as children, not as adults mooching off of us. I looked forward to them leaving only because it meant I could be a little more selfish now. The clock isn’t going backwards, its going forward. So before I go from this planet, I would like some me time, and some we time (my husband and I). So far its been grand. I still keep in close contact with my kids and maybe someday they will give us grand kids but I can wait.