<p>Our eldest is off to college in the fall and the youngest is three years behind him. The youngest is more self-reliant than his older brother and really doesn’t need us to be as involved with as many of his day-to-day things.</p>
<p>My wife never finished college and is looking at the opporuntity to complete her coursework at a local college. Me, I’ll keep truckin’ along at my job for a few more years, but have no plans to do anything different as the nest empties out, other than to figure out how to work the microwave. :D</p>
<p>I’d like to hear what changes you went through as the kids started to leave home.</p>
<p>Well, I have increased working hours as the nest emptied, which is really a necessity now, since second (and last) child is attending a school that does not meet need. Fortunately, I have jobs that I can do on my computer at home, so I haven’t had to add a commute or buy “work clothes.” </p>
<p>My husband will be eligible to retire by the time the youngest finishes college, so we will be considering moving to a home which requires less upkeep (i.e. a newer home with less property) in a few years. I hope to find more time for my own writing, and dh plans to spend more time on his art. We both intend to do more volunteer work in the future, as well.</p>
<p>TAKE CARE OF AGING PARENTS as they become more vulnerable.</p>
<p>wish I was kidding. I used to work in the field of geriatrics when I was young enough to have toddlers and zero wrinkles and would read/blather on and counsel people twenty five years older than me about the stresses facing the sandwich generation…middle aged adults nearing retirement whose parents are living a very long time and need quite a bit of support and now the hour when my own mettle is tested approaches.
When I have the urge to complain, it is also dawning on me that many of my peers have already lost one parent to earlier deaths and a few have no parents left whatsoever. My relations live to be a hundred and so I have a challenge ahead and much to ponder when I realize my friends miss having parents on this earth.</p>
<p>I’m on page 528 of a novel manuscript. About 120-150 pages to go, depending. I’ve published a number of short stories and lots of non-fiction articles but never a novel.</p>
<p>I’ve been holding it together with my hs senior son’s “lasts” by telling myself I still have son #3, who is 13. I gotta tell you, that empty nest is looking pretty attractive!</p>
<p>Garland, I started last June 6–D-Day dontcha know–and had hoped to have a first draft done by Jan. 1. I’m behind schedule. But it happens, inching and slogging along. If I can do it, you can do it.</p>
<p>I started working out with my H last September after we got S off to school. We get up at 4:45 a.m. and work out (either swimming or weights) six days a week for 90 mins. I went from basically sedentary to somewhat athletic, and I’ve dropped a pants size (he’s dropped two) and gained a lot more muscle and am hungry ALL the time and don’t feel guilty when I eat Ben & Jerry’s anymore! Now that D is driving and getting closer to leaving home, I’m starting to think about what else I’m going to do to fill the time and space. If we had the money, we’d love to travel, but alas… It’s a little strange to have room in life to put yourself first after all these years of being child-centered (thankfully, both of our sets of parents are fully indepedent right now).</p>
<ol>
<li>stop for a beach walk on the way home from work.</li>
<li>cook when I feel like it</li>
<li>make nobody’s lunch :)</li>
<li>volunteer in the high school counseling center</li>
<li>stop at the bookstore on the way home instead of Trader Joes or Safeway</li>
<li>Do 1 load of laundry a week.</li>
<li>Work in my Mom’s garden every now and then.</li>
<li>Unplug the TV - (that will only work when hubby’s traveling but I can dream.)</li>
<li>Wake up when I feel like it.</li>
<li>Go to Baja frequently (for work )</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m going to think about relocating out of our incredibly overpriced area,time to stop paying exorbitant school tax rates and property tax rates.Leave that to the young ones just starting their families and their need for the excellent school district.</p>
<p>Not a parent…but some exciting developments are occurring in their lives!</p>
<p>My younger brother just closed on his first home yesterday and my younger sister is moving in with him until she finds a new roomate. So my parents have finally taken back the house!</p>
<p>I bet wish they had the money to do better stuff (such as my mom finishing up school), but they are content with fixing up the house the way they want (and can) now.</p>
<p>The downstairs has 2 bedrooms, they are moving into the master bedroom suite (used to be my sister’s room) and the other bedroom (my brother’s room) is being turned into my dad’s office (he owns a small business). The two bedrooms upstairs (my old room and my parent’s room) will be turned into guest bedrooms for the kids (and someday spouses/grandkids). My parents also planned for the kids/grandkids by recently purchasing a new sofa with a hideaway bed. </p>
<p>My mom will probably be reading a bit more than she has (she reads A LOT already) and my dad will just go on with life as usual. Their biggest change will come by the decrease in the grocery bill. ;)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Stop staying home on the weekends to guard my house against unwanted teenage partygoers. If they hear a parent is out of town, nothing but the police will keep them out. I live in a nexus of fabulous weekend trips so I will be looking forward to any number of wonderful excursions.</p></li>
<li><p>Stop keeping a strict timetable.</p></li>
<li><p>Travel abroad more. The wings of both sets of parents were clipped earlier than expected. One at 65/62 and one (pending) at 75/72. Given those stats, we think it makes sense to add eight more weeks of vacation during the empty nest years.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My H’s parents were suddenly struck by serious illness when one was 65 and the other 62. Since then, they have been able to travel to their vacation homes, but that’s it.</p>
<p>My father is a miracle of afflictions and tending to those afflictions has now limited his ability to travel. He does travel to see my siblings and their children on the coast–but is not up to travelling for fun anymore. He was 75 and my mum was 72 when the latest affliction slowed him down. Before that, they went to Europe for a month every other year–to the coast twice a year for several weeks and to several major US cities another few times a year.</p>
<p>I’d read this thread with interest but hadn’t really thought ahead to September when our only leaves. But as I was fitting my daughter for a blazer tonight (I sew virtually all of her clothes), it occurred to me that I won’t be able to sew as much for her in the future. I looked around my sewing room, which is stacked to the rafters with fabric, and realized that I might actually have time to sew for myself. My husband is thrilled with the thought since he’d like to see my fabric supply dwindle a bit…poor dear doesn’t yet realize that for every piece of fabric used, I’m likely to buy two more!</p>
<p>i am impressed with the plans everyone is making! i have to admit that i am suffering a little bit of the empty nest syndrome–albeit a few months early. i always dread events so much that when they happen, they are rarely as bad as i had feared. i am trying not to focus on the impending empty nest–i just want to enjoy this summer one day at a time!</p>
<p>we are also entertaining the idea of selling our home–this one couple has repeatedly asked us to sell, so i think we’ll take them up on that. i have plans ready to go, so if it works out, i’ll be busy building another, much smaller, home. it seems silly to keep this big home for just two of us!</p>
Now I just need some creative inspiration - or motivation.</p>