<p>Although I look forward to retirement several years down the line, I do wonder what I’ll do with my days. As a school employee, I enjoy several weeks of vacation each year, as well as holidays and the occasional snow day. Yesterday, I filed a stack of papers, shredded a second stack of papers, caught up on all the laundry, reconciled the checkbook, cleaned out the refrigerator, the pantry and the medicine cabinet. I also spent far too much time on the computer and made a decent dinner. I know myself well enough to know I am better organized during the school week than I am during summer break. I have a tendency to procrastinate and live up to the “why do today what I can put off till tomorrow” motto. I really want to sit down and read a good book but I’m the type that won’t put down a book until I’ve finished it … even if that means letting the housework and sleep go. I’d love to just sit down for a solid week and read.</p>
<p>I am so looking forward to that day when I don’t have to do a whole list of things. Still a number of years to go.</p>
<p>I am an empty nester, but not yet staying at home. I don’t know when that will happen, but I’m not really looking forward to it. I’m a teacher and I don’t like summers. I enjoy having two weeks off, but then I am ready to go back. I wish I taught in a district that had year-round school.</p>
<p>One reason I feel this way is because I love my job. The other reason is that I’m the kind of person who does better with a schedule. I hope I am healthy and “with it” enough that I am able to teach for a while.</p>
<p>i have the best of both worlds. i am considered a full-time instructor, yet all of my classes are crammed into Tuesdays and Thursdays.</p>
<p>i don’t even want to think yet about retirement. i love what i do and i love the days at home.</p>
<p>on my off days, i go to the gym for two classes. i often meet friends for lunch or breakfast. i, too, am trying to sort through photos, closets and dresser drawers. i read–and i read a lot! during the winter i love to work on jigsaw puzzles. someone was “kind?” enough to give me a 3000 piece puzzle and it is certainly occupying a lot of time! as soon as the weather improves, i fit in a round of golf on every day off.</p>
<p>i’m lucky. i have a challenging, rewarding job–yet I have lots of free time.</p>
<p>Volunteer, clean the house, surf the net, read a book, go out to lunch with friends, etc. But then again, I can sit around doing nothing all day too–but not very often. I do work from home but have slow times of the year, now, and busy times of the year, fall. I like that I can go watch the kids’ sporting events or help out at school, etc. When they are off to college I will probably work more hours if I can.</p>
<p>Sportsmama-you sound like a friend of ours. She is also a teacher-and could have retired long ago, but she just can’t do it. So she accepts long-term sub jobs, and since she’s qualified to work in admin, has done several assistant principal sub jobs in schools close to home-one so close she could walk to it. She stopped teaching summer school a few years ago, but continues to tutor in her home. She also mentors new teachers and teaches classes for the Praxis. I want to be her when I grow up! You could always look at doing ONE of the things our friend does-I don’t know how she keeps up with it all.</p>
<p>I’m with SteveMA. Volunteer, clean/laundry, surf the net, read a book, out to lunch with friends, golf. Right now I’m in the second year of term as district PTSA president which takes up a huge amount of time but is very rewarding. Not sure what I’ll do with extra free time when I finish my term in June and only have one left home next year. Wouldn’t mind working part time as a college counselor!</p>
<p>I have one still at home, also a sophomore in hs. I have some sort of routine.</p>
<p>7 - get up and make d2’s lunch. 3 cups of tea/ breakfast. If H traveling take her to school.
8 ish- head to gym… yoga on Thurs
9- Back home shower/ head to work for 3- 4hrs
1 PM- Monday Publix, other days lunch with friends or run errands/housework/ volunteer
3PM - Home. Either pick D up or head out for a 3 mile walk
5ish - make dinner</p>
<p>I like to have my evenings free from house stuff etc. Love to have dishwasher on and kitchen cleaned by 7. Guess this goes back to when the girls were little and I wanted to put my feet up when they were in bed.</p>
<p>I hate when I am over scheduled. If I am busy at work and gone all day- not happy. I enjoy having the house to myself and pottering. My H is a " virtual" employee now and that has taken some adjusting for me… but that’s another story.</p>
<p>I went back to work part time 4.5 years ago. I’m now a semi-empty nester (1 in and 1 out) and am working pretty much full time. I love my job, work for a great boss etc. and am mostly glad that I am working but a part of me really, really misses being home. I love having time "home alone’ and I can get so much done then. I also miss the time that I used to spend volunteering.</p>
<p>Interested in knowing what occupations those of you who went back to work are doing…is it what you were doing before SAHM or a new career?
And how did you end up there? SAHM thinking about getting back into the workforce…while volunteering is VERY rewarding, with last one leaving soon may be time for a new venture.</p>
<p>Before kids, I was a magazine editor. Now I teach at a community college, which by the way, is the perfect mom job.</p>
<p>I always tell people that my DH earns all the money and I do everything else - literally. When both of our Ds were in college I told him that I was thinking about going back to work. His response - “Why would you want to do that?” God love him! I am very fortunate that he sees my role at home as equal to his role in the workplace. He often tells people that I work much harder than he does, which is a bald-faced lie! </p>
<p>We live in a 1920’s Tudor house that I clean myself, spreading the work out over 3-4 days. I grocery shop once or twice a week and we eat 90%+ of our meals at home, meals that I prepare. I exercise every day. There is laundry and ironing to do, and pets to care for. I keep our cars clean and ‘gassed up’, and run lunch or a coffee to my physician H when he is super busy. We have someone who mows the lawn, but I do all of the leaf raking, bush trimming, pruning, and general sprucing up of the yard. I take care of all of our financial matters - bill paying, investing, taxes, etc. I meet with our insurance advisor, accountant, stock broker, etc. when needed, something my husband doesn’t enjoy doing. </p>
<p>I moved my nearly 95 year old mother to an assisted living facility here @ 3 years ago and visit her 4-5 times a week. That alone takes up 8 or more hours a week. I also take her to doctor, dentist, etc. appointments when needed. I have intermittently volunteered in the community - mentored students at the local schools, raised money for the hospital foundation, etc. </p>
<p>Frankly, I sometimes wonder how I would do what needs to be done at home if I did work! I am up by 7 am and move nonstop until my husband comes home for dinner around 6 pm. I must admit that I sometimes miss the gratification of being handed a paycheck for a job well done, but do enjoy the freedom of carrying out my day in the manner I choose.</p>
<p>I volunteer both professionally and just to help in the community and at school, study a new language, go to the gym nearly every day, spend too much time driving (will be very happy to cut back on that), read, and take care of all the finances/errands. I try my best to stay away from housework :)</p>
<p>When I am a true empty nester, I hope to be able to spend more time traveling, visiting friends and family.</p>
<p>Holy cow, MidwestParent, I’m exhausted just reading about what you do all day. Your mother is so very lucky to have you close by and it’s so nice that you get to spend a great deal of time with her.</p>
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<p>Trying not to hijack the thread…but I am an accountant. I had several years of accounting experience before becoming a SAHM. Got my first job 5.5 years ago through a headhunter. Hated that job, so I quit and found my current job on line.</p>
<p>ok, today was pretty unusual in that in the morning I attended a routine pediatrician visit and then in the afternoon I had a home visit. I volunteer as a Guardian ad Litem and I would encourage anyone who has some time (some people with fulltime jobs do this) and interest in child welfare to look into it. Workload varies: Some weeks I do nothing and when a court hearing is coming up there are weeks when it is like a fulltime job. I do some other less demanding volunteer work also.</p>
<p>The great thing about being retired is the flexibility in my schedule. One of my new “hobbies” that takes advantage of my flexible schedule is working as an extra on TV shows and movies. I worked maybe 10 different days last year as an extra. I also try to play some golf but can’t seem to manage even one round per month. I spend a lot of time in front of the computer trading, but I no longer think of it as my occupation and I rarely have a problem leaving the screens for anything else that might come up. I often go for a run after the market closes, around 4:30 pm. </p>
<p>The best part of this stay at home flexible schedule lifestyle is that my wife is around also. Don’t ask what she does - I am not actually sure. We walk the dog together. She is a great cook, so dinner is a regular thing. I only recently admitted to myself and others that I was actually “retired,” since I wasn’t working and wasn’t looking for a job… what else could I be?</p>
<ul>
<li><p>early morning mental/physical health walk</p></li>
<li><p>drive to senior “independent” living to meet hospice nurse</p></li>
<li><p>spend 3,4 hours</p></li>
<li><p>come home, check on semi independent almost adult children who have emergency a,b,c</p></li>
<li><p>email/phone other senior relatives who have ‘no’ emergencies</p></li>
<li><p>mow lawn</p></li>
<li><p>drive back to independent senior living to check BP, modify meds</p></li>
<li><p>assist in neighborhood car accident, contact parents of driver</p></li>
<li><p>pick up almost independent almost adult child</p></li>
<li><p>therapy</p></li>
<li><p>drive back to senior independent living, check BP, administer drugs</p></li>
<li><p>make dinner</p></li>
<li><p>drink</p></li>
<li><p>check CC</p></li>
<li><p>go to bed</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I work 25 hours/week during the school year but don’t work at all during the summer. </p>
<p>S2 graduated from college last summer and is living with us until he can afford to move out. His job involves a lot of travel so we really don’t see a lot of him. Still feels like an empty nest.</p>
<p>I do all the grocery shopping and cooking…including making a lunch for DH to take to work every day. Relentless sale shopper…so sometimes go to several grocery stores per week (four stores all within just a few miles of my house).</p>
<p>Experiment w/ new healthy recipes…Pinterest can be an obsession.</p>
<p>I do all the laundry/ironing/housekeeping/getting the garbage out,etc.</p>
<p>I exercise…this has become a important part of my life over the last two years since I started a weight loss journey…don’t want to risk a relapse!</p>
<p>I always have a book on my Kindle that I read every day…read the daily newspaper too.</p>
<p>Avid online Scrabble player</p>
<p>Take some time out for CC most days.</p>
<p>Sometimes get together with a friend for lunch.</p>
<p>Thrift store shopping is my favorite cheap hobby that I do prob. do once a week if I can.</p>
<p>DH saves his vacation days for summer when I’m not working. We are busy in the summer, on the road a lot. We spend as much time as possible at our other home. Almost 3 years ago we built our retirement home/dream house on the river in the coastal area of our state. It’s about 5 hours from where we live now. We sold our home in the suburb we’ve lived in for 25 years and moved to a rental last year in anticipation of moving to the retirement house in the next year or so… So I’m constantly cleaning out old stuff and packing up good stuff to haul to the new house.</p>
<p>Hmmm…I currently work about 25 hours a week doing financial analysis for a law firm. I was a SAHM when the children were small, then went to work when oldest was in 2nd grade and worked full-time through D’s college years, for the most part - she will graduate this spring. Last year I cut back and was teaching at a community college as an adjunct, then added this position and cut back on the teaching. What do I do with the rest of the hours in the week? </p>
<p>Not necessarily in this order: </p>
<p>Check on my mother daily. She lives very close by.
Pay bills.<br>
Clean and run errands. (Definitely the lowest priority!)
Pinterest and College Confidential.<br>
Train Sabadog, our 13 month old Lab.<br>
Exercise.<br>
Help H with miscellaneous job search related tasks (he is looking to make a change).<br>
Serve as counselor and college guide to my 23 year old son who is looking to go back to school.
Read. </p>
<p>There are days I get bored; I’ve never been a part of the garden club or ladies who lunch bunch. Since being in this position is relatively new for me, I’m sure additional things will open up.</p>
<p>"It is certainly harder to fill the day now that the kids are gone "
-I can relate to this, very much so. I have been working and (thank goodness!) continue and praying for it every singel day. However, I was at despair what to do after job and every day exercise. I had to find a hobby and I did. I love it. However, it would not fill my day if I do not work. Job is still the main entertainment and absolutely irreplacable and it scares me. Some day I will be kicked out and much sooner than most here on CC as I am much older. then I will be at loss. If I devote my free time to my hobby, our house is in trouble, I already have flooded it with my pieces (despite of having sold and donated many and buying new furniture to store them). In addition, I started sleeping much less hours (3 - 5 hrs is absolutely fine, more, I will be suffereing for the whole day with headache, no energy,…etc.). So, even while working and exercising 2 -3 hours, I still have plenty of time to fill, more than most working people.
Anybody who is at loss what to do with the time, I would advice to find a new hobby, something that you have not done before in your life. It is very rewarding.</p>