Momservation: Seasons remind us that change brings something to look forward to.
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The house is awfully quiet today.
Obviously, now that I’m a mostly work-from-home Empty Nester, a quiet house shouldn’t be surprising anymore.
But since I’ve been going through 15+ years of my Momservations® parenting columns for my upcoming book, DON’T FORGET YOUR LUNCH: A Diapers to Diploma Parenting Journey, you can imagine how haunting a quiet house can be.
Don’t get me wrong—I’ve been transitioning nicely to it just being me, Hubby and Darby dog now. As mentioned before, there are definitely perks:
- My time is my own, not dictated by my kids’ needs.
- Regular Date Nights and going out with friends.
- A flexible calendar of fun things to do that are not planned around school activities, fundraisers, or my kids’ sports/extracurricular events.
- My dog never talks back, argues, ditches me for her friends, or wants money from me.
…and my favorite:
- My kids’ problems are their problems now.*
*Until they call home trying to make it my problem
But as I sift through nearly 16 years of parenting tales causing me to both laugh out loud and tear up with nostalgia…yeah, I miss my kids. I can’t believe the heavy lifting of raising them is over. It still feels strange that I have been designated for reassignment.
My job now is to just listen and support my young adult kids.
After 20 years of actively parenting though, to suddenly be removed from duty feels like a proud little tugboat being sent to the scrap yard.
But rather than wallow in the winter days of “What do I do now?” I think I’ll head outside on this ridiculously warm February day and let the signs of spring have its way with me.
As Darby dog and I walk by the Easter egg palette of tulips with the warmth of the sun on my face and the smell of spring blooms in the air I know a smile of contentedness will spread across my face. Because this glorious day will remind me that as sure as spring always arrives with new beginnings, undoubtedly, this next change in life will have something amazing to offer too.
#ChangeIsGood #HopefulSpring #EmptyNesting