This is such an interesting conversation. After a 12 year period of an empty and semi-empty nest, our kids have completely flown the coop and we couldn’t be more proud. About 8 years ago, in their earlier fledgling stages, I started a business with some moms in our community. I must say, this endeavor has given me community, structure and meaning. @shawbridge, it is so true that these elements really do make the next stage of life so fulfilling. The support of my partners, together with the work we do, both the for-profit and not-for-profit segments of our business, have helped me navigate some very difficult personal times, including the transition from full-time mom to advisor, friend, and confidant as a mom to adults. I will always take pride and joy in the people I helped raise to adulthood, and now I can kvell in their continued growth and happiness. I think if you can find those elements in whatever you do, whether it’s work, a hobby, a volunteer commitment, while surrounding yourself with smart, positive, supportive people, that migration to the empty nest will be less jarring.
Just fill your time - the rest will follow.
I just started reading “Reboot Your LIfe” Chicken Soup for the Soul.
It’s only for 4 years right? then they come back and mooch, right? I can use the break. I think I will get my 2nd job back.
No not really.
I realize, almost eight years after becoming an empty-nester, that I absolutely love taking care of my house. This might stem from the fact that I always worked outside the home when my kids were young and now I’m semi-retired. I absolutely love taking care of things in my house these days. I remembering going to visit my father and his wife when my kids were young and being amazed at how tidy and clean their house was. That’s what I’m becoming, and I like it!
@VeryHappy, I’ve been trying to get more into cleaning the house, decorating a little, and other small, inexpensive pleasures lately. I have not had time to think about much besides necessities for some time. It’s nice to “stop and smell the roses” every now and then.
I also like keeping the house tidy. It doesn’t take much effort to keep it that way. Its an environment we’ve created over the years to our liking, so it’s calming and pleasing to the senses when it’s neat.
Since I quit working in December, there’s time for creative projects. I realized son’s room was a throw back to his junior high years. It was fun to update, changing dark red walls to a soft gray, painting a few pieces of furniture, swapping out teenage wall decor for things more suited to a young adult. It cost very little and made a world of improvement, even tho he wil not be spending lots of time there.
The other thing we’ve been doing is decluttering. It’s surprising the stuff that gets tossed into a drawer, closet, spare room or back of the garage that you forget about. We’ve already taken a carload of stuff to Goodwill, sold a few things and tossed junk in the trash. I do it a drawer, closet or workbench at a time. I LOVE getting rid of crap. Makes me feel lighter.
@Miller514: Swing on over to the The Bag a Week Thread. Lots of decluttering going on there.
VeryHappy, ya made me veryhappy. Thanks for,the suggestion; heading there now.
forgot how squeaky our bed was, just sayin’
O.M.G. lol!
Totally forgot about this thread!
And now I’m living it! Not so bad! 
LOL @rumrunner! I think that is what my DH was hoping would happen. Instead I picked up my tennis racquet, which I had put down for many years. Now I am playing on 4 different teams.
@abasket, very glad to hear that you are adjusting well to the empty nest. We spent part of last week looking at renting a place in the Bay area about an hour from ShawSon. We have also contemplated spending the summers in my wife’s native Canada. We are trying to schedule a trip that both kids can join us on, but their schedules are more constrained than ours (I run my own company and have flexibility and my wife is a painter and thus has flexibility, subject to show schedules, as well).
It has been just a few days, but I am still grieving. I can’t read these threads without tearing and I am not a cryer.But those kids were the epicenter of my joy. Maybe I will feel better in 2016.
They still can be myyalieboy! Do you have a son - or more than one child gone? Do the things you used to do when he/they were home but sub in other things for the time that you previously had to spend on their activities or needs! Please don’t cry for the next 3 months!!!
One of the first things I did when I got back from taking my S to school was to attack his room, which had become a disaster area! So in addition to giving me the satisfaction of getting the place straightened up and cleaned, I found all sorts of stuff from his childhood that either cracked me up or made me sentimental. Felt like a great activity for me under the circumstances!
^I would not dare to touch D’s room. She is 25 y o and has been out of house for over 8 years. Her room is just that - it is hers with her stuff.
When my kid is out of the house for 8 years (actually it won’t take me that long to wait), then that room is mine!
Yes, it will be bittersweet, but really why keep a room with their stuff indefinitely?!
And I was like b1ggreenca - as each kid left for college I attacked their room…very satisfying—and cleanest rooms in the house! (Until winter break time…)