<p>Okay two things</p>
<p>geting rid of (by donation) all the art supplies in my house- glue, construction paper, ribbons, etc that take up so much space, but that we need to have on hand</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>being able to sleep a normal schedule- with early mornings getting to school, and late nights due to slumber parties, my sleep pattern is all messed up</p>
<p>am I the only one who has a couple of things they are looking forward to? suuurreeeeee</p>
<p>be honest and step up!!</p>
<p>some of you MUST</p>
<p>Oh, and I though since my DS has gone off to college I could bring more art supplies into the house - that’s exactly what I’ve done…moved up from paper & paint to sculpture & more 3-d pieces of art (the biggest so far, a little girl over 3 feet tall that now holds a bird feeder just off my kitchen)…</p>
<p>Things I am looking forward to [when I’m] an empty-nester:
<p>— the list gets longer the longer I think about it :)</p>
<p>CGM, I just read your question, and my youngest is sitting here reading Harry Potter (fill in number) for the nth time. He’s 14, but is still cute as a button (:)). He’s a bit of a late bloomer, so hasn’t gone through those horrible adolescent rebellious stages yet. For now, I can’t imagine anything good about the empty nest. After he soils it a time or two, I’ll be getting back to you though (lol).</p>
<p>I’m just regretting that we didn’t have more kids so that as youngest was moving out, the grandchildren would be arriving. My kids better not disappoint me in that area…</p>
<p>well, I of course will miss them, and it will be empty, but as I am losing one this fall, and another the next year, and we are talking about rearranging rooms etc, i can see some of the benefits to an adult only household…</p>
<p>ps- I have 3 dogs, so I won’t be lonesome…they are very demanding, now if we could get the white one to stop shedding</p>
<p>H just gutted, insulated, and sheetrocked d’s bedroom. We have never allowed TVs in the kids’ rooms, but he did put in a cable connection when he rewired. I guess we are thinking ahead…</p>
<p>Timely question! My H and I were just saying how lovely life can be, as my dd just returned to college from break yesterday, and my ds is at his away basketball game and won’t be home until 9PM.</p>
<p>So we get home from work almost at the same time this evening (a rare event itself), the house is quiet except for the dog’s unconditional love, and we have a conversation and make a meal together. Bliss! I can do this regularly in a couple of more years!</p>
<p>I can see it ahead, far, far ahead…shimmering, wavering, mirage-like two more years down the road. S2’s current I-hate-everything stage is making it a lot easier to look forward to an empty nest. The sooner, the better. (jk)</p>
<p>When the nest is actually empty, I think I will enjoy the feeling of accomplishment of getting both launched and, hopefully, of a job well done. I will throw myself into some new job, preferably something paid this time. I will cook more vegetables and fish and basically whatever I feel like. I’m going to take fun day trips into L.A. on weekends. Right now, I’m seeing lots of positives. I don’t think I will pine. But I may have to get another dog.</p>
<p>My oldest left for his uni. My youngest leaves in 11 days for the first part of his Gap Year and I am…positively giddy! I’m excited about this next phase of life.</p>
<p>I gave the child-rearing business everything I could muster and now I…am mostly done…with a job well done. Until grandchildren arrive…a huge chunk of brain space and time has been returned to me for other activities. Yippppeee!</p>
<p>As I’ve said before, I don’t like living with 18-20 year olds. I’m too old to live with them for more than a month at a time. Besides, they learn more when they are out in the world figuring it out for themselves. </p>
<p>So…great to see you kiddo…but don’t let the door hit you on your way out. ;)</p>
<p>What I will love about empty nest:</p>
<p>Reduced housekeeper bills
Reduced laundry bills
Reduced internet and phone bills
Rooms that stay tidy
Sinks that stay tidy
Dry towels
Flexible meal times
Shut the ‘On Call’ service that I’ve been running fo the last 21 years.
Shut the Finder’s Service
Shut the Five Star Diner
Forget the Pizza Delivery number
No more Volume 38 music pounding through our walls and into our garden.
No more finding misc 18 year olds just outside my bathroom door…ahem.
No more guarding my house from massive ‘Parties by Text’.
Spontaneous weekend vacations! Yeah, baby!
Party at Cheers’ house!</p>
<p>
I think we’ve got this covered! <em>lol</em> My oldest D will be 27 when my youngest son goes off to college! My oldest son will probably not have any kids by 29, but ya never know! ;)</p>
<p>~b.</p>
<p>
How old are you? What happened to me is that my empty nest coincided with the outbreak of hot flashes and night sweats… so my sleep patterns are worse than ever!</p>
<p>nice, remind about that, when I was so hopeful!!! ah well, at least I can nap more then</p>
<p>Things I have enjoyed about empty nest:</p>
<p>-Like Cheers, can actually go out on a weekend and not have to stay home to guard house.
-Bathrooms stay clean
-Can prepare what I want for dinner or prepare nothing as the mood strikes me.
-No school fundraisers
-No last minute runs to craft store for school projects</p>
<p>(But you know, the list of the things I miss is much, much longer)</p>
<p>dream about it all you want. all those things do sound wonderful, but i want to warn you that you might be totally surprised at how sad it is to realize you are home alone and a phase of your life that was very important has come to an end. it’s not as dreamy as it all seems.</p>
<p>I actually enjoy my empty nest. The food I buy is IN the fridge when I go to cook it. The washer isn’t going constantly. Ditto the dishwasher. The house doesn’t get dirty. There is always milk in the fridge. The car has gas in it when <em>I</em> want to use it. Oh wait…the car is HERE when I want to use it. The lights aren’t on 24/7…ditto the computers. Cell phones aren’t ringing all day and night. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my kids…but…</p>
<p>wbow - i think we were separated at birth, that’s EXACTLY what I was thinking.</p>
<p>of course it is going to be sad…but there are some benefits and if it what is is, would we want it any other way>? no we wouldn’t, we want them out and free and succeeding and growing and becoming independent…we will have done our jobs</p>
<p>so why not enjoy some of the hard earned privacy…</p>
<p>i for one will be happy to have the remote control in MY control</p>
<p>Ditto on having complete control of the car–and the car radio! </p>
<p>I’m not getting rid of art supplies & the “good” toys cause I’m saving them for the grandchildren! How forward-thinking is that? Married D is still in graduate school, so a while, I guess.</p>
<p>My problem is, DH travels a lot, so when our nest empties (one kid left) it will be REALLY empty. I’d travel with him, but he always goes to the same two places–offices in other cities–and spends the whole time working crazy hours. Don’t think it would be much fun for me.</p>
<p>I have noticed a distinct increase in the electric bill when both sons are home with laptops that run 24/7. I have been sort of tracking our usage since I replaced some incandescent bulbs with efficient fluorescents and I am sure it is the laptops that are making a surprising difference.</p>