<p>Dare I say it…my DH cooks more than me! He really likes to cook and he really likes to eat, whereas I am amazed at the waste of time in cooking for two…give me the aforementioned bowl of cereal and no dishes!</p>
<p>I think I mourned the most the last half of senior year with D2, I knew what was coming and I have several songs that still make me cry, but really hit me then. It was no worse than I expected, but that whole EN thing is tough, how can I go travel with three in college! Your time is more free, but your resources are not!</p>
<p>It is little bits of time spent together I miss, the time between 10pm & midnight when all the intimate talks happened and, of course, the sports team events, and the interaction with no effort in seeing all those parents at all the school functions. It is easy to wonder if one is superfluous; would any one notice if you disappeared, probably not for a few days :p</p>
<p>mkm56-that is the same response I have when my husband doesn’t make it home!! Cereal for dinner is so easy and no cleanup! Tonight he wasn’t goin gto be home so I went with the left over Chinese as I am out of milk.</p>
<p>I’m so glad to read this thread and find I’m not the only one having cereal for dinner! Actually that was last night - tonight I’m meeting a fellow empty nester for dinner. Much easier than trying to cook for one! Thank you all for this thread.</p>
<p>Since the thread has strayed to cereal for dinner I will admit to always having Raisin Bran in the house for just that purpose. Oddly enough I NEVER eat it for breakfast.</p>
<p>My husband will have two bowls when he has cereal for dinner. First he has the healthy bowl, either Mini Wheats or Raisin bran or something similar. His second bowl will be dessert-a kiddie cereal like Frosted Flakes or Coco Krispies!</p>
<p>Reviving this thread- was Thanksgiving this year, with the return of the college kid(s) different? I had to spend 5-6 hours on Wednesday picking up son instead of just getting pies baked and other goodies ready for the big feast… Sunday became laundry day, first for son; then for me after he left with dad’s turn to drive. A few days home was guest status, a month home for winter break…I’ve already decided son can clear the driveway and go back to bed this winter… Having son home made me miss him again but also reminded me of his bad habits.</p>
<p>This was our first Thanksgiving without D since she was born. We got by. She gets back home in 18 days. Not that I’m counting. </p>
<p>(Before T-day, she had mentioned something in connection with coming home in an e-mail to TheMom and said something like, “I’ve lost track of when that is but Dad can probably give you the number of days.”) I used to drive the ballet directors nuts at the cast party for the Spring show by announcing the number of days until Nutcracker auditions. And I won’t bore you by telling you the number of days until the 2008 elections.</p>
<p>We saw our freshman dd on Thanksgiving day, and only briefly here and there the other couple of days, since she was so busy seeing HS friends. With all the relatives/friends around I never got to have a heart to heart with her before she was gone in a flash on Sunday, and that made me feel very sad!</p>
<p>My HS sophomore son was asked by all the relatives on Thanksgiving:
“How do you like having your sister (college freshman) home now, and do you miss her when she’s not here?”</p>
<p>His answer: “What sister?”</p>
<p>I guess I shouldn’t have posted this on an “empt-nesters” thread, but…I did.</p>
<p>I suspect that in many cases the number of old hs friends seen will dwindle down to about half a dozen or so…the first year they’re they’re trying to see “everybody.”</p>
<p>It depends how much they continue to have in common. </p>
<p>My youngest son has the most amazing group of 20 male friends–each one funnier, more dynamic and talented than the next. Such large groups are rare. These guys will be mates for life.</p>
<p>Well, I must confess that I am much less stressed out with my two away at school. Ignorance is indeed bliss. I worry less because I know less. And I like that. My two (a sophomore & a junior) were picky eaters and I LIKE only having to cook for two. H eats anything.</p>
<p>I miss them, but frankly, between the moodiness of one and the drama of the other, life is simpler now. We can afford to do virtually nothing as the kids are sucking us dry financially. That’s the downside. However, with 16 total semesters to cover, after this one we’re on semester #9 and past the halfway mark.</p>
<p>I’ve had many friends ask me how I like being an emptynester and commenting how hard it must be. I usually give them a half-smile and say, “hey, it’s not so bad” Secretly I’m thinking I must be a bad parent, because I’m enjoying the lack of children onsite WAY too much…</p>
<p>After DS left for college, I spent a few months taking care of much-neglected home repair - and have been doing a lot more volunteer work. As much as I complained about the carpooling to high school, I miss all the conversations with the students in the car.</p>
<p>Am definitely cooking less - my husband is very content to “scrounge” for dinner. It took us a long time to kill off the Thanksgiving leftovers. Am still trying to learn how to cut down on food shopping - it’s hard to break old habits. I don’t have to buy as much - or even the same things. I now have “old fogie” cereals in the house - whole grain stuff. We are enjoying eating Brussels sprouts (which my kids hated) and eating at whatever time we want to - not being concerned with sports schedules.</p>
<p>One nice benefit of having the house to ourselves - we can sleep with the bedroom door open and not be concerned with how much noise we make when…oh, you know!</p>
<p>Wow, I lose weight when the kids are gone… gain when they are back in town. But when they are gone, I clear out all the junk food – no chips or cookies or other sweets laying around to temp me, nothing fried in batter for dinner, and definitely no pizza or fast food.</p>
<p>My wife has come to the realization today that her father (87) who is staying with us, is semi-invalid, in pain from nonhealing wounds, wants to die. and there is very little that she/we can do. He is a retired vet and doctor. </p>
<p>2 sets of parents all in the high 80’s. Show stopper?</p>
<p>Oh my, itstoomuch. It is so great that you can have him in your home. I am so sorry. My Dad just died this fall and my mom is hanging in there though lonely. A part of me wants to bring her to live with me but it is not possible. She has good care, medicines where she is in an assisted living home. My sister is there as well. BUT, I wish that I could have had them close to me. I find having older parents around during the college days is a good thing. My son has the opportunity to visit and put his own life in perspective.</p>
<p>That said, I get to see my son in less than a weeks time. He is coming for a visit and to have his wisdom teeth out. It should have been done much sooner but when I had it last planned he had a spine tumor that had to be dealt with before he started college. We have waited to have it done here where it is a lot cheaper.</p>
<p>Quality of life trumps quantity of life- letting go of parents can be as hard as letting go of kids. I only knew 1 of 4 grandparents, son 3 of 4- my inlaws have spent significant time with us, but no way can my father. itstoomuch, it’s tough to feel helpless, as a physician I can understand why an elderly retired doctor, of humans or animals, feels as he does in those circumstances. My mother died suddenly 25 years ago and my F-in-law dwindled over the years I knew him, it became a matter of everyone- the parents and adult children- deciding in advance to not call the rescue squad, it can be very hard to not act, but it was best for him when the inevitable happened.</p>
Secretly I’m thinking I must be a bad parent, because I’m enjoying the lack of children onsite WAY too much…</p>