<p>As soon as my kids left the house, I decided to go back to school. Currently studenting at Harvard Law. Will be looking for work in '12 to pay for my kids education at Stanford School of Continuing Education. My S is 26 and had issues with his stay at Drexel University. He wants to be an engineer with a minor in Studio Art. He hopes to draw pictures for a company.</p>
<p>My H says its not coping with an EN for me to plan to move to last childās college town! I figure we will sell the house in the spring and if DS goes to the Naval Academy, we will move to Annapolis and rent, and be 45 minutes from DD, who has graduated and is working in D. C. I figure why cope with an EN, just move with them! 
He says I am hopelessā¦</p>
<p>sounds great to me!</p>
<p>My husband says I should look at living in Virginia Beach instead of Annapolis to give my son a breakā¦hmmm, maybe I will consider it. My daughter says please just donāt live in her apartment building Of course, if my son does not get into the Naval Academy he is going to Virginia Tech. I do not fancy living in Blacksburg so in that case Virginia Beach would be my goal!</p>
<p>iāve become a groupieā¦</p>
<p>following the dirty feathers everywhere!</p>
<p>[Who</a> Needs A Record Label? The 5 Best Bandcamp Albums Of 2011 : NPR](<a href=āWho Needs A Record Label? The 5 Best Bandcamp Albums Of 2011 : NPRā>Who Needs A Record Label? The 5 Best Bandcamp Albums Of 2011 : NPR)</p>
<p>spoiled rotten for the last two days. both boys at homeāgreat to have them help around the kitchen, great to have them along while walking the dog, great to have them around to share funny stories.</p>
<p>but now, back to the airport and back home to a quiet, quiet home. boo hooā¦</p>
<p>but the wonderful times we had this past weekend are worth the sad goodbyes!</p>
<p>I am a stay at home mom and there is something cruel about giving your all to something for 18 years but if you did your job right you send what has become your life, off. I really didnāt think about this when I gave up everything to be a stay at home mom.</p>
<p>Adopt an African child.</p>
<p>You guys are depressing me. I thought everyone was going to say how much fun they were having and that it was great!</p>
<p>Actually, I loved having the kids home but am really happy they are back to their respective places, pursuing their dreams. I am busy with H & my non-profit, keeping it going through constant networking and care. It is growing, in spite of the tough economy.</p>
<p>I hope I have as good an attitude as you do, this fall! Iām afraid Iāll just be grieving. And did I go through all these years just to be sad?</p>
<p>We all have choices to make. As my S would say (& has told me at important crossroads in my life), you can now āreinventā yourself and figure out how you want to share your love and talents. There are many great ways you can do thisāask you local united way, look in the paper for info about charities that interest you, take a course, start a new hobby, foster a pet, foster a child, volunteer for meals on wheels, help at a homeless shelter. The list is endless, as are the needs that could really cherish your energy and talents!</p>
<p>busdriver11, I donāt think I will really enjoy my empty nest until I retire in 2014, because I am limited by my job.</p>
<p>i just wish i had been more preparedā¦i thought i would be just fine and found out that i was not ājust fineā with the empty nest. </p>
<p>however, donāt be depressedā¦</p>
<p>learn from usā¦prepare and know that letting them go is exactly what we have prepared forābut it may also be one of the hardest things you ever do!</p>
<p>My older son is a jr in college already, and it was very traumatic for us at first. Iām okay with it now, because he is so very happy and busy. Much happier than he would be if heād stayed home. But the way that we deal with it is to look at it in segments. He just was home for winter break, now in less than two months heāll be home for spring break, then the next break. </p>
<p>An HImom, all good suggestions, Iām sure weāll do more volunteering in the future than we are now. Butā¦when your last one goes, after all these sacrifices and giving, giving, giving for so many yearsāit doesnāt feel to me like the primary thing I want to do is replace the needy Iāve taken care of with more needy. At least not immediately. My husband still needs me, my kids will still need me, my dogs are demanding as can be. It seems that initially it might actually be time for parents to do something for themselves, that they couldnāt do when they had kids at home.</p>
<p>I was talking about this at work, as there were several guys on the bus, older, so most of them wouldnāt have kids at home anymore. And I was asking them what you do after they leave. One man said, āWell, itās hard at first. You really miss them for awhile. And then, what do you do? Whatever you want!ā And he broke out into a big smile, and all the others were laughing and nodding. I wondered if that was just a guy thing, or if moms felt like that too.</p>
<p>There was an article about this in USA today last year. </p>
<p>[-</a> USATODAY.com](<a href=āUSA TODAY - Breaking News and Latest News Todayā>USA TODAY - Breaking News and Latest News Today)</p>
<p>Party like itās 1999!</p>
<p>i do just fineā¦until i visit with my kids. not with just one, but when i am able to spend time with both of them, i am thrown back into a downward spiral when saying goodbye.</p>
<p>it is so rare that we can all be togetherā¦does it get easier? </p>
<p>does practice make perfect? </p>
<p>just wonderingā¦itās so hard afterwards that i almost dread the time togetherābut not enough to stay away!</p>
<p>It makes me feel better that Iām not the only mom who is working through the empty nest. I think that itāll just take time!
@ Wbow-- How long have you been an empty nester? How old are the kids?</p>
<p>wbow; I feel as you do. What I cannot yet work out successfully for myself is the fact that I chose to have children precisely because I wanted to create a family; not because I wanted to create future adults with all the tools to live their lives in the adult world - that of course was a natural by product. Now, that family I created is far away and I am back at square one. I feel like part of my limbs are missing. Getting over that is a long journey I am only now starting - not because I want to but because there is no other choice. Filling my day up with classes, chores or other activities is not going to help I donāt thinkā¦itās the people I am missing, not the work.</p>