EMPTY NEST

For the first time in 24 years we’ll have no kids in the house, at least until winter break. I’m moving two kids to college today. It already sucks. It’s 90% humidity and I’ve loaded two cars to the gills. Now the 4 hour trek on the PA Turnpike. I’ll be out of touch until this evening.

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Stucky

No kids in the house?? Shit!!!

You do know, dontcha, that divorces skyrocket once the last kid leaves the nest?

You and Avalon are surely safe from such a fate. Still, just sayin ..,..?

Zarathustra

My parents fought like cats and dogs during my and my sister’s teenage years. Disturbing at the time but hilarious in retrospect they engaged in drunken shoving matches late at night. My dad once accused my mom of having “nigger blood” and she accused him of being a loser with his state job.

Once we went off to college and especially after they both retired, they got along famously and lived happily ever after. So there.

Brian Reilly
Brian Reilly

The first day of the rest of your life. All that time and effort (given freely, with a profound sense of the responsibility entailed therein) has paid off. That old nest has served it’s purpose. Time to move on. Don’t be afraid to let someone else take point once in a while on the coming trek.

javelin
javelin

Enjoy it, get reacquainted with the woman you vowed to spend the rest of your life with.
Not to be a bummer, but life throws curveballs. Stats show a likelihood ( in the 21st century) that you may have these kids at home a bit after they graduate–or might even be helping to raise some grandkids.
So ENJOY the quiet, free-time, less demand and the $20 here and there from your wallet.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

You spend 25 or more years being a family man, working to provide for them, buying groceries at midnight for them, buying school supplies, going to their sporting games, taking them to the beach, the zoo, the park, teaching them to ride a bike, trying to install wisdom and values into them. You always knew they’d go, but it’s not always easy to have the main aspect of your indentity end – or at a minimum, change significantly.

Suzanna
Suzanna

Yes, there are poignant moments, but the

children must be launched. The last one to

college = some quiet. No worries, they come

back. My own children followed me far from

the city, one working and just married “up” here.

The other one bought solid property and comes up

weekends etc. I adore them both, and they know it.

overthecliff
overthecliff

No divorce for you Jim. Now that you can run around the house nekid all the time, Avalon wouldn’t let such a HUNK get away.

Dennis Miller

Hi,

Having put four kids through college, I can tell you what to expect. When they come home for their first visit, generally Thanksgiving, you eagerly look forward to it. Same for Christmas.

By then end of Christmas break you can’t wait for them to go back to school. You and the misses will have begun to adjust to the empty nest while the children expect mom to fix them breakfast at 11:00 AM, pile up dirty clothes in front of the washer and expect them to be washed and ironed when they want them.

It’s a transition period, but NONE of our friends have ever complained about an empty nest, enjoying the privacy and seeing their children move into adulthood.

Enjoy the ride!

Best regards,
Dennis Miller

Gayle
Gayle

It’s what you call a bittersweet day. Somebody will probably shed a tear or two.

Boat Guy
Boat Guy

Getting one thru college is tough enough , we managed to keep her debt free on this 4 now 5 year trek .
I remember graduating from high school going to a community college for 2 semesters by bicycle and then found myself standing on an oil tanker under construction and had a 1 bedroom apartment 2 months after my 20th birthday and a $60 dollar a month car payment .
Empty nest LOL ! I think the plan is to wait us out and as we die or get committed to a nursing home the young will take over and slide us aside
Save the good booze for yourself you have earned it
Safe Travels !

musket
musket

My folks were all prepared for the “cutting of the umbilical cord”. No problems with my leaving for college in Texas. My father pulled me aside out of hearing of mom and quietly said, ” If you flunk out don’t come home. Just go to the nearest recruiter and join the Army.” He was not kidding either…my older brother had real problems and lasted a year. My draft number was 18 and the local board in southern Arizona annually went far above that. This was August 1970…….

I graduated on time with a BSEE in May of 1974 and never looked back. Thanks Dad…you sure know how to motivate a guy.

EL Coyote
EL Coyote

Went thru it twice, the first time when my son moved out at 17 to go live with his GF, his mom went into a funk like he’d died or something.

The second time, my step-son and his live-in GF moved out, his mom and I were spooked. However, just a few months later, my step-daughter and her soon-to-be hubs moved in and I enjoyed a wonderful year and a half with my grandkid who was born a year after they moved in.

Now, my wife wants her other daughter and family to move in next month because the other option is we continue walking around like ghosts in an empty nest.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

I often think that there’s something to the Italian way: just keep living with your parents until you get married. Of course, the guys have the reputation of crying out “Mama!” when they climax, which must be unnerving for the women. They also have a habit of getting taken over by Nazis, so maybe a little more self-reliance would toughen them up.

EL Coyote
EL Coyote

They were an Italian couple who sued or got sued by their 45 yo son. It seems he couldn’t afford to move out and he won. That was some decades ago. Funny how it sounded outrageous back then and now it doesn’t surprise Americans.
I think nothing can surprise us now.
Children born out of wedlock, check.
Black, Illegal son-in-law, check.
Rebound kids, check.
LGBTS kids, check.
Neo-Nazi kids, check.

Unforgettable
Unforgettable

I’m thinking a two-seat convertible sounds nice. And maybe one of those bicycles built for two.

Mike Murray
Mike Murray

I told all three of my kids that for their 18th birthday their present would be luggage.

If your kids are out of the house, FANTASTIC!
It’s a sign you did a good job as a parent, and much better than having them fighting over who gets to live in what part of the basement. The helpless leeches so many parents raise today make me sick.

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