<p>Well I know there's always serious topics generally on the PF, so today I wanted to lighten it up a little bit.</p>
<p>What do you guys do when we leave? What about when we first leave? Then what about after you get used to it, or is it a constant party?</p>
<p>I think after my mom gets over crying she's going to start doing alot of new things with my stepfather that they probably think i wouldn't have enjoyed or didn't want to exclude me (I don't know why lol, but I know they must feel bad if they don't invite me along even though I ALWAYS decline to let them have their time just as I need a break from friends, schools, and parties). I can definitely picture my mom going kayaking and having a blast. What do you all do?</p>
<p>Well, we did cry a bit for a little while. It is a big transition for us as well as for you all. We are torn because we are feeling many things at once. We are so happy for our children/adults because they are embarking on the absolute best (we hope) time of their lives. We are feeling anxious because we hope you can manage your new lives without grownups in your faces in the same way. We are feeling our own ages and that can be eye-opening. We are enjoying the quiet in the house. We are sad at the quiet in the house. We are going out to eat and to the movies on a week night. We are lonely Sunday afternoons. We hope you will call once in a (little) while, and if you don’t, we tell ourselves that no news is good news. We are finding new things to talk about, and sometimes we can’t. But mostly we are just so proud of you all. And so it goes.</p>
<p>Gee … sleep late (until 7 am) every morning! Feel free to go out to dinner or cook, my choice. Watch whatever TV program I want without worrying about it being distracting to the homework brigade. Work straight through for a full day without having to leave the shop to transport children. Head out for a weekend of wine tasting, outlet shopping, and B&B’ing upstate without worrying about leaving the kids home alone. Etc.</p>
<p>Eat out at restaurants my kids don’t like more often. See more movies that aren’t to their taste. Watch all those movies on DVD that I missed when they were little. Go with my husband when he has conferences in cool places.</p>
<p>Could be we have sex all through the house, walk around in our underwear (or nude), and attend wild parties on the weekend. Then again, it could be that we just do that old folks’ stuff like mowing the lawn, taking out the trash and trying to remember where we left the car keys. I’m not telling.</p>
<p>and hopefully way more frequently^^ My name has been changed to protect the innocent mine are all still home and w/ my kids’ schedules and fact that they do homework sometimes into the wee hours and our house isn’t that big…well you get the picture lets just say that we are looking forward to Saturday morning when SAT prep class meets and youngest is on a sleepover</p>
<p>Oh gross - all these parents talking about that three letter word which begins with s and ends in x!</p>
<p>I think I will feel like a whole new era has begun - like a page has been turned and I can now write whatever I want. Most parents have dedicated the majority of their energy to their children, and for a lot of us an empty nest means a second chance at living life predominantly for one’s self. </p>
<p>Please do call frequently, but don’t worry about us. You may be starting off on a whole new adventure, but so are we. :)</p>
<p>I’m focusing on things without the feeling that I have to be available if a child wants to talk to me. (It was rare, but still . . . I wanted to be around just in case.) It’s quite liberating. I can go do my errands whenever I want, without worrying about who needs the car, or who needs me. Meals have become much simpler, because I’m not trying to please anyone but hubby and me. (And we’re very plain folks when it comes to food.) I can spend lots and lots of time doing things I want to do (like be on CC) without being concerned someone will mock me for it.</p>
<p>And, as some of you already know, I’m handling 20 years of deferred maintenance on the house, in the expectation that one day we’ll sell it and go smaller. That is taking up a lot of time.</p>
<p>Well, we parents get to spend less on groceries, more on tuition, fewer loads of laundry, worry a little more, get to bed earlier as we do not wait up for you on Saturday nights. I am only down by one S, four more to go. I will be almost retirement age by then. My H can retire from work and I can retire from Mommyhood and hopefully travel to visit the kids and grandkids by then. Or maybe we can move in with one of the kids and leave our clothes on the floor and the milk open on the counter.</p>
<p>I worry a lot less because he isn’t driving–even though he was a very responsible person, he had 2 accidents–similar to me. So I worry less and I guess my hubby and I are having a different kind of fun–though we very much do miss our son’s daily presence in our lives.</p>
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