anyone else over 55 and have kids at home?

[mmbow]

Just curious on the 55+ board. I am over 55 and still raising my 16 year old (and yes she is my biological daughter) My DH and I have taken both our children on cruises..and they absolutely loved them.
Actually my daughter was a souvenir we brought back with us from a cruise.

[Paumavista]

DH is 55 (I just turned 50)....we just took 6 of the 9 kids with us on the most recent cruise...3,4,8,9,18,&20.

Between us we have bio, step, adopted, & foster children....His/Mine/Ours & More.

We love cruising (and so do the kids!!) but it is getting pretty darn expensive with this crew!! We've just added another 15 year old daughter so the next trip would be even larger....but I'm really trying to keep my eye's open for some fabulous deal in later 2009.

Judy

[WCAB]

My daughter will be there. She is having #6 at 38. 4 girls and 2 boys. Ages are 18, 14, 12, 9, 2 and one due in November.

Originally Posted by mmbow

Just curious on the 55+ board. I am over 55 and still raising my 16 year old (and yes she is my biological daughter) My DH and I have taken both our children on cruises..and they absolutely loved them.
Actually my daughter was a souvenir we brought back with us from a cruise.

[cb at sea]

I'm sooooo glad I had my kids in my 20's! Sure, I may have been a smarter parent had I been older, but my kids are grown and gone, (and doing well!) and I'm in the prime of my life and hubby and I are enjoying the freedom!

[Happy ks]

Raising my hand

DH is 59 and I just made it to the Senior Special age of 55! We didn't get married until we were in our 30's and then waited a couple of years before having kids. There was no way either of us were ready for kids in our 20's, so it has worked out great for us.

Our son is 19 and our daughter is 16, they are still home but are both a delight to have around.

[hightownCO]

I'll confess! My daughter will be 15 in November and in Feb 09, I'll be looking for Senior discounts!

I think it's been great so far! Plus she's my cruising buddy. Course now she's wanting to go off to the teen events so I seem to be cruising solo much of the evenings now. But that's ok too!

[jayscore]

Like Happy, we didn't get married until I was 32.(I'm now 55) Now we have two boys 17 & 18. We wouldn't dream of taking them on a cruise! If those two were confined on a ship, we would have to spend half of our time visiting them in the brig! Each, on their own, are wonderful kids. But put the two of them together is like dropping Mentos in Diet Coke! Fortunately, we have always had great relatives to watch over them when we go on a trip. Our next cruise is in April, and one boy will be in college(19) and the other will be 18 and should be able to hold his own at home. (With relatives spying on him constantly, mind you!) Don't get me wrong, we DO love our kids, but when we go on vacation, it's to get away from everything!
Am I alone thinking this way? I really don't think so.

[Bax]

The boys are 14 and 16. The others (biological) are 29, 31, 32, and 34. They are more fun to cruise with than the adopted ones.

[tobes]

My youngest of three is 19 and still spends most nights at home even though he has a room in the sophomore dorm at his college. I call it the most expensive parking spot on campus! He and his siblings have been my travel companions all over the world, on land and at sea. They love to cruise. Now as they get older and have their own responsibilties it is harder for them to plan vacations. This year I am going to try a cruise alone for the first time (although I do know other people that will be on it). I wouldn't have traded my travel time with them for anything and it would not have been the same if I had had them younger.

[WinnieinWA]

Originally Posted by cb at sea

I'm sooooo glad I had my kids in my 20's! Sure, I may have been a smarter parent had I been older, but my kids are grown and gone, (and doing well!) and I'm in the prime of my life and hubby and I are enjoying the freedom!

Ditto! Couldn't have said it better myself. Love being free and knowing all my kids are doing well. Only drawback is that I was widowed 7 years ago so cruise solo with the dreaded single supplement!

Only problem now is that I feel guilty if I'm gone longer than a week....I'm owned by two cats.

[DiveCruiser]

DW 53 me 58 and the bird has flown. This will be the first year since our daughter was born that she won't be cruising with us.

Bob

[deepnite10]

took an early retirement a couple of yrs ago due
to a job related injury..

60 now..and i ve still have a daughter finishing up on
her final yr of nursing school..

we normally sail in jan. right after the holidays..and while
she s still on winter break..normally she return s to school
the weekend after we return..

she does nt sail with us cuz she has to housekeep and
care for our 3 dogs..

[joand452]

We didn't have our first child until I was 32 and DH 34; she's 24 now and still lives at home with us and her 4-yo son!! So it's almost like we've started over again. We have two other daughters, 20 and 22. The 20-yo lives at college (100 miles away) and the 22-yo lives with her BF and their 1-yo son at HIS mother's!!

We didn't cruise until eldest daughter was back at home and she (sort of) supervised the younger two, who were still in high school. Now we take at least two week-long vacations a year, with some long weekends thrown in.

She's our built-in babysitter for our two dogs, but she gets us back with our grandson!

[BoPippy]

57 in February.Wife is 46.We have a 16 and 19 boys that just want to do their thing with their friends.Married now for 3 years,first wife passed with cancer and had no kids for 29 years,now at 56,we have 2 boys.(what a change)at least i did not have to go through the poopie stages.

[VABeachPeach]

Just turned 54 and husband is 56. Youngest boy was my 38th birthday present. He has five older sibs, but only his 19 yr old sister is still at home.
The four of us are taking the Westerdam on Easter. Love them dearly but I am utterly sick of teenagers (I taught high school till recently) and can't wait for the empty nest.

[Toothfairy754]

I am 57 and my kids are 32 and 26. Both are away from home. Last one left last year. I introduced them to cruising this year and we have another one planned for next year.
I am glad I had my kids young as we are able to do fun things together now.

[DunhillMom]

I am 56 and DH is 64...and we have two boys 26, and 24. The 24 yr old is at home, and likes to party. We were gone last weekend to the beach and came home to a mess. Mind of a 16 yr old. We leave next Friday for two weeks river cruisin' with GCT from Vienna to Amsterdam. It'll be cold...but we're not home (Orlando)!

I'm so worried about leaving the 24 yr old behind....if he can't follow our wishes for 48 hrs, what about 16 days???????

As my husband said....if we don't do it, we never will. He was forced to retire end of Sept, but is looking for another job. Since he was between jobs, he booked us to do the Grand Rivers of Europe. We love Germany and the Netherlands, so are anxious to get back. We're used to driving through on our own, but he wanted to try a river cruise and rates were low with the weather getting colder.

Can I lock Party Boy in a closet for 2 weeks?

[joand452]

Dunhill Mom -- you'll love the river boat cruise. My boss and her DH did Budapest to Amsterdam last May and loved it. They like the small boats (they didn't care for a cruise ship when they went to Alaska).

I would love to do it, but I think I'd feel claustrophobic on the small boat. Of course, their cabin was huge! I know my DH would hate it -- for him, the bigger the ship the better!

We have a 24-yo daughter at home with her 4-yo son. She's a partier, too, but at least she knows she has to care for her son. She usually pawns him off on his other grandparents when we're not home, so she can stay with friends, but she has to be home some of the time so our dogs are taken care of, too.

Maybe your 24-yo can hang with his brother?

[suse]

We are both in our mid-fifties and the last two kids just moved out. They have good jobs and health insurance so we are happy. When they were home, they would dog-sit while we were away, and it was always sort of a mess when we returned, but the house cleaned up easily. My big worry was that they would be ok while we were gone.....I dreaded accidents and so forth. But, it all worked out ok. Now, unfortunately I have to board the little scottie

[joand452]

Suse! We have two scotties!! We used to board the older (he's 13) until we got the second one (she's 9).

I've seen a couple of other Scottie avatars on CC (including one just like mine).