Bookmarking for inspiration and consolation . . . my son is a senior and I’m on my own. I’ve got to get prepared somehow.
@notinoz, welcome to the thread! There is lots to read here in the 75 pages - you will not feel alone!
And I believe the best thing you can do is what you are doing now - preparing ahead. Enjoy senior year fully but also start planning (and dreaming!) for new adventures and activities for you! That will probably make your son more comfortable when he heads to college - knowing that you are “ok” and busy too!
So I am officially an empty nester. I am so sad, but I know I have to find some other interests. At this point its just us and the dog, and even my hubby hasnt been here due to a travel assignment that has kept him away all summer.
We are very young empty nesters, so it is not like retirement is looming anytime soon.
On the bright side, my son proposed to his girlfriend! They had been dating since 10th grade. I guess wedding planning will keep me busy, and my D1 is a college senior this year.
Congratulations on the official launch of your last one to college @partyof5 ! If you are young(er), then plenty of time (and energy?) to reinvent your routine if you like! Congrats on the engagement - maybe that will keep you busy!
@abasket thank you! Its hard when youve had to be a daily mom for the last 24 years, then suddenly you come home and theres nothing to do. Sure I still have some "managerial"things to handle for them but its not the same. I feel like I have to find a new purpose. And yes, I suppose, I will become a regular contributor to the Wedding thread!
Excessive playing of Sudoku and Duolingo lately. I need to get “un-hooked” from both and move on to my other more productive hobbies. This is my current goal. We have no pets either and have no plans acquiring any.
Congrats to everybody who is just stepping into “empty nest” territory. The thing that was important to me is to immediately get very busy with totally unknown to me activities, I was sliding down fast. My advice - get busy, the idle head and hands are causes of my troubles.
Entering the third week of Empty Nest, Year 2.
@partyof5 you are right where I was last year. My youngest had just started college and my oldest was newly engaged. The wedding, even though we didn’t have a lot to do in the wedding planning department, still took up big chunks of time last year. Physical and mental time. It made for a great first year of the empty nest. We all had projects to do, clothes to buy (!), and something fun to focus on. The wedding was this past spring.
So this year is a tidying up, clearing out, and organizing year for me personally.
I have been working on digitalizing all our old photos. I started it once, years ago, with a scanner and a hard drive, but it was a slow, tedious process, and I didn’t finish. Then last year I discovered an app (Heirloom, but there are other good ones) that uses your phone camera as a scanner. The app crops the photos for you. The site allows for unlimited storage, and you can create albums. Each photo can be tagged with information. The info follows the photo to any albums you create. I’m working my way through the pre-digital hard copy albums. (the quality of the digitalized photos is fine for the vast majority of old photos that were not high quality in the first place. I’m not tossing the hard copy photos or albums, but digitalizing the photos to a site where we can all share the photos from any computer or phone with the app gives me peace of mind.
Also working my way, room by room, closet by closet, through the house. Tossing, donating, organizing, so that when we eventually move from this house there isn’t so much to do, and all the kids’ things are boxed and in their own closets and rooms.
You are really being productive, @eastcoascrazy. These are things on my list for this fall as I adjust to no kids at home. I also need to convert all the videotapes but haven’t decided yet which is the best way to go on that.
“I have been working on digitalizing all our old photos.” - It is interesting to see as I have been UN-digitalizing all photos for the past several years, it is one of my hobbies. I have been making Shutterfly albums and EVERYBODY in my family absolutely loves them, my husband, kids, grand-kids. It is especially rewarding to me to hear this from my S. and his wife as both happen to be Graphic designers and really appreciate great organized and nice looking printed material. To our family, nothing can compare to flipping pages of the actual photo album. I have been organizing albums with photo prints ever since I remember, then the places like Shutterfly came along and I stepped up in my hobby to everybody’s delight.
@eastcoascrazy My husband has a stint out of the country right now, so I have joined him. It is certainly keeping my mind off the empty house. I do miss my dog though. It was just too expensive to bring him, and too many rules, such as being quarantined.
@partyof5, my wife accompanies me on some of my (many) business trips abroad. She’s got her own work to do, but has flexibility.
I think I wrote earlier in this thread about the importance of having/creating community, meaning and structure. A SAHP can lose all three when the last bird leaves the nest, so you need to work on creating or finding a community not dependent on the kids and school, pursuing activities that provide you with a sense of meaning (can be work, helping others, …), and something that gives your life a daily structure you may not have when you are no longer tied to the kids’ school and activity schedules.
And, congrats on the upcoming wedding.
@shawbridge thanks, I am looking forward to the wedding! I thought they would wait until she finished grad school, but they want to get hitched next summer. So we are looking for an inexpensive all inclusive venue.
I am currently in Central America, and it gives me an opportunity to brush up on my spanish! I telecommute as well, so I am able to work from here.
The day I’ve dreaded for years has arrived. I helped DS move into his dorm yesterday and that was OK. But driving home today, without him, and being in the dead house, with no DS-related responsibilities, and reminders of him everywhere… that sentence is a lost cause but you know what I mean.
Dropped S off at the airport yesterday. I should be used to this as it is his 3rd year of college and he is our 2nd (and youngest) child. I think his going to school overseas is what makes me sad. He is far away. Although he points out that it is only a 6 hour flight and the school he attended freshman year was a 10.5 hour drive, it just feels different.
But he seems to be thriving there.
Still LOVING our empty nest. DH and I feel like newlyweds again. 
I’m coaching like mad . I have 3 of my own teams and also help the league as part of a coaching pool. I coached 3 nights last week and will do 3 this week (would be 4 if not for parent’s weekend.).
Also, actively involved in church governance stuff (as is my spouse).
Tonight we are walking to a nearby gastropub.
Our next-door neighbors have invited us over for dinner tomorrow night. They’re empty-nesters, too.
A month after my daughter went away to college for freshman year, a friend made a “left behind” brunch for a bunch of friends she had met throughout her daughter’s childhood with same-age kids. It was wonderful! Enjoy, ML!
I did something similar @oldmom4896 . I invited a few ladies over for tea. We all knew each other from homeschooling but we no longer saw each other because we were no longer involved in ‘school’ activities since our children were all in college or careers. It was great to catch up.
Talked to our youngest yesterday. I have the feeling she misses our dog more than her parents!