No empty nest here; I also have a freshman like a few in this group. But I anticipate being far less busy once D goes off to college this fall. She’s like a vortex - we all to get sucked into her over-packed schedule and agenda. She takes on a lot and needs a lot of support to keep all the plates spinning. We’re the meeting and study group house for her friend group so there’s always a lot of comings and goings. She takes a lot of mental energy to deal with and we affectionately call her the Whirling Dervish. :bz :bz :bz
S21 is more mellow and reserved and handles his business pretty well on his own. He’ll start driving soon after D leaves so things will be a lot less hectic around here. His friends don’t congregate here. I’m really going to miss D and her friends swirling around here with all of their antics and activities. It’s going to feel ALOT different this fall
I’ll be an empty nester too. My older son moved across the country to live with his dad last year. My D18 wants to stay in CA for college, but my husband and I are moving out of CA as soon as we can. Looking for a work transfer for him now and will likely end up near Boston. We’re selling almost everything and starting fresh. Can’t wait! My D has known this was the plan for a long time and she’s fine with us being across the country.
Empty nester in 2020!! My husband hopes to retire then from his “office job” – we’ll still have remote work/income – and we hope to be footloose and fancy free! Not that I’m excited or anything… :))
My D18 takes a lot of bandwidth and skews a bit to the dramatic. My D21 is really even-keeled (I think she got the drama out of her system when she was a toddler). She trembles in fear knowing that next year she will have my full attention. =))
I’ll be an empty nester in the Fall and I’m racking my brain trying to figure out what I want the next stage of my life to look like. I feel like one major life’s goal has been accomplished, now what’s the next goal?
We will be empty nesters, D15 will be going into her final year of undergrad then moving away for grad school… D18 is our baby so dropping her off will be devastating I’m afraid. My husband and I are booking a vacation to visit my family in the UK (they have babies which will help ease my sadness) and then take a mental break in Portugal before returning home. After that I have to figure out how I’m going to fill my days outside of work with no booster clubs, scouts, sporting events, music events etc. It will be a huge transition for me. Exciting for sure, but just a massive life change.
I’ve not had a chance to check this thread for a few days. Congrats to all the new acceptances and bummer about the GT denials. We’ve been dealing with the same cold and ice issues here, with the kids off school through today. By this afternoon though the ice will be melting and back to school tomorrow. Luckily my work is only a mile or so from the house, so I’ve been able to get in.
Last night I got home and found out S18 was invited for the Stamps/Singer scholarship weekend at U of Miami-Fl! I knew he had a great shot at merit there, but none of us were thinking about their full ride and full tuition scholarships. Miami is in his top 2-3 choices, and he was already going there that weekend for a music school audition, so it all dovetails nicely. He even got up early this morning to work on the short essay that is required when he accepts the weekend invite, so he must be excited about it too!
I won’t be an empty nester until 2022. But it will feel very strange and different after S18 leaves as husband travels a lot for work and it just feels safer here having son around when he is gone. It willl take some getting used to just having D22 and I here alone for extended lengths of time next year. But once D22 is off in a few years (which will be heart wrenching as she is my sweet, compassionate, endless loving, gentle soul), I will travel with my husband to some of the really cool destinations he gets to go to and that it exciting for me too.
Back to the crazy weather we have had here, kids are off school again today for snow. That means that between winter break and snow days, they have only been to school 5 days since December 15th!
@vistajay; Congratulations to your S for the Stamps/Singer scholarship weekend invite - that’s quite an honor!!!
@DiotimaDM; Congrats to your S on advancing to State for the Elks!! After reading your post, I checked my D’s portal and she advanced to State as well!! Thanks for that tip!
We’ll be empty nesters, with S18 our only. It’ll be hard and I’ll miss him very very much. I have been planning to dive deep into creative hobbies that take a lot of time - started one of them this year, one of them a few years ago, but haven’t done the deeply time-consuming aspect for a few years and plan to do that again next year. Need something absorbing outside of work. Have thought about some volunteering too, including some that would involve working with elementary aged kids.
@vistajay congratulations on the invitation! I so wanted my D to apply and compete, but she didn’t want to be in warm weather. So I’m so happy for you and you S for this great opportunity. I hope it turns out well!
Congrats @DiatomaDM and @vistajay on the scholarship progressions/invites. Stamps is a fantastic opportunity and Elks too.
I will not be an empty nester yet, but with my D20 it will be time to start this process all over again! It will be a much different path. She is above average but not high stats like S18. She is also being recruited for track and field so that will be a new adventure. She is my super outgoing but higher maintenance child. I will certainly miss the calm that DS brings to our house.
Found out yesterday that DS did not get a Chancellor invite to TCU, so that pretty much makes that school NFW. I have not told DS yet. Trying to decide whether to tell him or let him find out when he gets around to checking his portal/email (which he usually does every week or so. It was one of his top 2 schools but we knew it was a long shot all along. He is pretty easy going so I’m sure he will take it in stride. But for me, it is my first big disappointment in the college game. We find out on Monday if he is selected as a semi-finalist in a big local scholarship that could be a game changer. I am hoping if he gets that, it will soften the blow. If not, we will absorb the bad news of both. Still waiting to see if he was selected for full tuition at his #1. That one will be more crushing, but also realize it is very competitive and a long shot. We are supposed to know by March 1. The good news is, once these things are decided for us, for better or worse it will eliminate some of our choices and we can start to move forward with the other choices.
Our twins who graduate this year are our only kids, so we will be empty nesters too. It will be so strange to go from two kids at home to none all at once.
D18 #2 found out yesterday that she got into her one school she applied to (my undergrad alma mater), so they will both definitely be out of the house. Luckily, this one will only be about 35 miles away and needs a little extra care and attention from us, so we will still see her a lot. It’s going to be hard enough with her sister about 7 hours away.
I saw Ladybird mentioned. Loved the movie, but at one point, I just burst out crying because it all just hit so close to home. The daughter and her friend who went with us were staring at me like I was crazy. Ha!
@VaNcBorder - That is what I’m looking forward to as well once DD18 is off to college. I retired early in 2012 but DH plans to work 5 more years until he’s 60. He travels extensively for work to some really cool places (he’s been to every continent except Antarctica, multiple times and last year flew nearly 200,000 miles) and I rarely accompanied him.
And once he’s retired we plan to be semi-vagabonds, renting flats in Europe and Asia for months at a time and using them as a base to explore the world. We’re fairly well-traveled but they are of the “I’ve got 2 weeks of vacation what highlights should I hit” type of travel, and we’d like to have a more immersive experience.
