Photo courtesy of www.123rf.com
Two weeks ago, my youngest son moved out. This means that for the first time in our married life the hubby and I have no offspring living at home. Some people dread the so-called Empty Nest Syndrome; I have been looking forward to it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children fiercely and deeply but there comes a time when all fledglings should leave the nest and our youngest was getting a little long in the beak to still be at home. Two weeks in there are a few pros and cons to an empty nest:
PRO: Yes, Virgina, there is such thing as leftovers. We raised two boys and the youngest was our biggest eater. This did not change as he grew into adulthood. Until he left home, leftover sightings were as rare as those of Bigfoot and almost as reliable.
CON: We are cat owners and with cats come litter boxes, which require regular scooping. Cleaning litter boxes is a shared duty which rotates between family members. Due to our son’s school/work schedule, the hubby and I took the duty during the week and the son had it on weekends. Now that he is gone the doody-duty falls to us full-time. Friday night litter box scooping just plain sucks.
CON: No child living at home means that we no longer have a built in pet-sitter for those rare occasions when we go out of town. (Pets again. I’m sensing a theme here.) We might be able to find someone to come in and clean litter boxes while we are gone, but the fact that two of the cats require daily medication makes the process a little more difficult. While pretty much anyone can give a thyroid pill, not everyone can give an insulin injection. Boarding the cats is $16 per night per cat, so that can get kind of pricey in a hurry.
???: This one is neither a pro nor a con, just… different. I had to admit after a few days that I actually missed my son. While we didn’t see him often, there were a few nights per week where he and his girlfriend would come by for a visit; now that they don’t I kind of miss it. I told my hubby that I guess this means that its time for us to find some people our own age to play with. While there are other adults that we associate with, there aren’t any that we really “hang out” with. As the kids were growing up it was hard to develop meaningful friendships with other adults – our schedules always revolved around our kids and never seemed to mesh with anyone else’s. I guess now we’ll have to see if we actually remember how to make friends.
And last, but certainly not least:
PRO: For the first time in our married life, we can actually enjoy uninterrupted sex. Since the time our youngest was old enough to climb out of his toddler bed, the boy has had impeccable timing and what I refer to as “romance radar.” Should either my hubby or I feel amorous and, heaven forbid, decide to act on it – there he was. This also did not change as he grew into adulthood.
Think I’m kidding? I am not. I had already decide that tonight would be a good time for some lovin’ and what happened? My hubby just walked in and said that our son had called and that he is on his way to our house. Sigh.
Are you an empty-nester? If not, does the thought of an empty nest scare you?
For us, it will be having no one to mow the lawn for us. Or snow blow. Sigh.
Lol! I guess we each have our own tasks that we dread/dislike.
My nest has been empty for about 3-4 years now. I also have two boys, and they have both moved to Chicago with great jobs. I miss them bunches and would move from Fort Worth to Chicago in an instant… well, I would visit Chicago in the summer finances permitting. Ha ha. I wish they were both closer to home, but they are never far from my heart. I’m not a great long distance grandmother and I regret the lost time.
Like you, my boys will always be close to my heart wherever they live. For now, they both live close. I’m sure that it is only a matter of time before that changes. Right now I get to see my grandson pretty much whenever I want to; I know that I will be sad when that changes.
My younger boy is heading off to college, 5 hours away, next month; the older one has already been out on his own for several years; he lives 2 hours away. So we’re going to be empty-nesters soon too, just us and the cats. Our older boy, I was ready to box him up and ship him off somewhere his last two years of high school – he wasn’t a bad kid, just very moody, strong-willed, and difficult – but the younger one has been much easier and I’m going to miss having him around. I am looking forward to having the chance to excavate his room.
Your oldest sounds a lot like my youngest! I’ve been ready to ship him off for a while now.