S wasn’t happy that I commandeered his closet for my square dance outfits. My house = my closets! >:)
We are a family of five and live in a small three bedroom house, so the minute each kid left the room was attacked, cleaned out, etc… and, in the case of the first kid to go, a new kid was put in the room. Maybe D1 was a little upset at first, but I am not sure if the boys even noticed.
When I do clean my kids rooms, they are happy. One son had a bunch of stuff in his room that was just junk (think huge stuffed animals with no sentimental value type stuff). I put a bunch in the hall before he came home once, and I said feel free to take out what you want to keep, the rest is being donated or trashed. He kept none of it.
I am planning to get rid of lots of my kids old clothes. I like to think they’d wear some things, but if they don’t take it with them, it usually means they simply don’t want it. I am the one who has a hard time getting rid of some stuff.
When my daughter left for freshman year, her room was the Museum of DD.
Nothing done over winter break but when she came home in May, WHAM! She tossed more than I would have tossed!
ShawWife goes on a cleaning frenzy at times. ShawSon left boxes in the basement that she was going to throw out, but she read the label: “Useful in case of nuclear war. Do not throw out. Mom, this contains really useful stuff.”
going away together for 2 nites. no kids at home to feed the cats tho … using a neighbor tho. adjustments, adjustments …
Refocus on your marriage or other adult relationships!
going to an art opening tonight with Wifey
Great, @rumrunner. We are actually taking advantage of our freedom in a number of ways. We are spending three months living on the West Coast – avoiding East Coast winter – and are having an adventure: we are living on a houseboat. Both ShawWife and I are working (we are able to work from wherever, though we had to rent a studio for her). We are seeing friends from the West Coast and meeting interesting new people.
wow, nice! always liked the houseboat in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. are you in Seattle?
If I remember correctly, he’s in Sausalito… Much better than Seattle if you ask me.
We are taking vacations without kids, but we bring them along sometimes too. I am trying to get some of the junk out of my house, and trying to get the kids to do the same.
Yep. Sausalito. Depending upon the day, we have great blue herons, night herons, seals, sea lions, cormorants plus the usual seagulls and penguins and maybe doves right outside our boat. Otis Redding apparently wrote “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” on this dock, but I’m working rather than wasting time (well, unclear how you categorize CC). We are really enjoying ourselves.
I’ve got a business trip to Turkey in a couple of months. ShawWife is going to come with me and we will start early as a vacation. The client is paying her airfare. Another advantage of empty nesting.
I do not like to travel at all. When H. goes on his business trips abroad, I consider it a downtime for me, I absolutely hate to be at home by myself after work / gym. I need somebody there, but I do not like having pets. When retire though, we plan to be abroad for most of the year, not sure how it will go, just have to experience to see. Currently trying to plan certain activities while there, like learning another language. I hope and pray that I can sustain the boredom of being a beach bum, still remains to be seen…
@MiamiDAP, where will you be going? Which beaches? And why? Are you going back to the place where one of you grew up?
Could you work remotely, perhaps part-time or as a consultant? Otherwise, perhaps you should find some kind of volunteer activity. My 92 yo mother is still doing that and resigned her last board positions at age 90.
My dad at 91 is still on boards! He still goes in to work every morningM-F, just because he enjoys it.
" where will you be going? Which beaches? And why? Are you going back to the place where one of you grew up?
Could you work remotely, perhaps part-time or as a consultant? Otherwise, perhaps you should find some kind of volunteer activity" - we will live primarily in Central America when we retire, but it is not related to us in any way and in fact, we do not know Spanish, which is an obstacle to any volunteering, and I am not sure if there is any, since it is pretty much a village on a beach. I can work remotely, which I am planning to offer to my current employer. I suspect that the answer will be negative though. Actually, we work remotely so to speak, all of us, as our computer is in Europe and the most business is in Europe, while we still have a lot of business in the USA. “Working from the beach” would be my dream. The job is my main source of entertainment, everything else is pretty boring in comparison. I use TV primarily to fall asleep, it does a good job as a sleeping pill. If stayed where we are now, I would be working until they kick me out, I would never ever leave this job on my own, just too much fun! But the climate here is not the “retirement climate” at all.
Feeling exactly the same way. It’s bittersweet, I wish it were a movie I could just rewind.
I am tempting to do this. But there is a problem that I could not resolve: I could not convince my wife to do the same (even though she grew up at the same place as I did.) So this is impossible.
Hi parents, I’m a college transfer student who is having a dilemma that I wish a parent figure would give his or her insight in. It has much to do with an empty nest and I would really appreciate some perspective.
Also, what kind of student loan is best?
Thanks Moms and Dads
grimmghost,
"I got accepted to UCLA, UCSD, UCD, and UCI. I’m pre-med and want to pursue public health before applying to MD schools. " - if you are planning for medical school, then the best is to attend the college on full tuition or higher Merit scholarship. You really, truly, do NOT want the student loans to cover your college tuition. Please, do not put yourself thru this, you will greatly regret it later.