Bittersweet

I took W to his first job outside the house, working as a personal assistant to  C, a friend of mine. He did ok (I stayed to help him, C and I are looking at this as 'job training' for him.) and will be going back again. He and I talked about things like saving money for college, putting 10% of everything he makes in the bank, paying people for rides because he doesn't yet want to drive, that kind of stuff. Its one thing to talk about stuff like this when they are younger, but it takes on a whole new meaning when dealing with an older child getting ready to be a young adult.
 I'm lucky in that we live in a place with not only many excellent schools, but a thriving tech/gaming community, since W has decided to go into gaming, and I won't have to deal with sending him off to school. And since he has already moved into the garage apartment, he's already learning to be on his own, without really being out on his own. AS children tend to mature in some ways faster than neuro-typicals, but slower in others. W has told me from a fairly early age that he is not moving out, and as I'm only one generation off generational living, I'm actually fine with that. He can get a job, add on/improve his apartment, move in a gf/wife and live there forever as far as S and I are concerned. Since he is our only child, everything will be his eventually anyway.
 Talking to W about adult things makes me realize that he is just around the corner of being a legal grownup. I have watched my friends taking their kiddies off to a school halfway across the country in some cases, and seeing the 'babies' fly off on their own is a hard thing to do for every parent, even when they are ready for it. I'm glad I only have to do it once, does it get easier the more times you do it?
 The best we can hope for as parents is that we have taught our children the things they need to know to survive and thrive as independent beings. I'm glad my child rearing days are coming to a close, but I'm also glad that W will not be rushing off immediately, since he's a couple of years behind socially, this will give him the safe environment to learn to be an adult.