Finally: holidays without mum and dad!

So now the time has come. Our son has announced that he wants to spend this summer holiday without parents. Well, he's 18, and friends of his went on holiday without mum and dad when they were 16. Motorbike boys, classic over the Gotthard with their eyes on Ticino. Back then, I was glad that the boy only had a bike in the cellar. The Grand Tour of Switzerland was not an issue for him.

This year, however, he wants to get into the car with Julian, his sandpit friend, put the windows down and let the wind blow through his hair. Their declared destination: Amsterdam. And no, it's not going to be a language holiday. Maybe they'll go to the Rembrandt Museum, but most of the time, I'm not kidding myself, they'll be looking for Van Gogh's severed ear, a kind of scavenger hunt from coffee shop to coffee shop.

I see dangers where common sense just shakes its head.

My problem is that I get anxious months in advance and see dangers where common sense can't recognise any with the best will in the world. My husband is very relaxed about it. He went on holiday without his parents long before his 18th birthday. With a rucksack on his back and an Interrail ticket in his pocket.

When the going gets tough, he may have once stood in a phone booth and dialled his parents' number. «Experiences take you further,» he says, "even bad ones. And it would be good if his parents didn't always find out everything. His words. I take them to heart. Well, I'll try.

18 years old - but not quite grown up in mum's eyes

Nevertheless, we have a clarifying conversation with our son. After all, being 18 doesn't mean you've bought a permanent passport for all hallucinogenic expansions of consciousness. The health insurance card belongs in his wallet alongside his ID and Rega patronage card. Anyone driving a car must internalise the zero alcohol limit, which applies to intoxicants of all kinds. Substances carried in the car can also have an impact. «Mum, it's clear in case!» replies his son, rolling his eyes.

And now that everything is clear, his colleague Julian can't go on holiday together after all. He's needed at home, a summer job is calling. And Junior doesn't want to travel alone either, so no Amsterdam this summer. And my fear for nothing.

His mobile phone vibrates and two school friends ask if he would like to go to Berlin with them by car ...