The Next Level of Empty Nester

As I write this, I’m on my way to Florida.  My daughter graduates from college tomorrow.  It’s really hard to believe that we’re at that part in her life.  As you often hear, time really does fly.  It was just yesterday that she was starting kindergarten & here she is 17 years later graduating college.  Now, we’re planning where she’s going to live while she is in graduate school.  Another 2 more years for grad school & she’ll be ready to enter a career that excites her and has been motivating her for many years now.

How does all of that relate to the flow in my life now that I’m an empty nester?  Well, I’m finding that my day to day life isn’t directed by my kids anymore, but it still is influenced by them.  I’m now planning to help her move out of the college dorm that she’s lived in for four years.  I’m also planning a move for my son to his college this fall.  It’s going to be a very full August for me as I’m pulled back into mom duties.

This morning, I took the time to plan for some classes that I want to offer over the summer & fall.  I haven’t been able to do that because I was waiting for the dates when I will move my kids this summer.  Now that I have rough dates, I can start making plans around them.  My summer is going to be a bit full between a 2 week vacation in June and moving 2 kids in less than a month soon after that vacation.  I’ve just realized how the flow of the summer is going to be and it’s going to be a very fast-moving flow.  After I blink a couple of times, both kids will be settled in new places again.

While I was doing my planning, it struck me how much calmer things will be again in just a few months time.  All of a sudden after a crazy few months, my calendar is going to be much emptier.  It’s like I’ll be entering a new level of being an empty nester.  It was almost scary to see how things will calm down all of a sudden.  I’m sure there will be another adjustment period as I realign again to this next level.  I’m not sure what it will be like or what will happen, but I do know that I have a habit of filling up these holes rather quickly.

It won’t take me long to find more classes to offer or other ideas to follow.  I’ve always been very good at finding something to do, but what I hope is that I keep some of that unfilled space in my life for just me.  As I readjust to this new level of empty nesting, I want to remember myself in the equation.  My life has been so full lately, that I’ve not been very good at remembering myself.

I’ve been called in to mom duties more often lately.  While I’m very grateful to have had the chance to be there for my family, I realize how much I’m putting everyone else first again.  I’m ready to take care of me a bit more again.  I can only put me so far down the to do list for so long.  I need to re-energize so that I can be there in the future for my family and others when it’s needed/wanted.

This new level of empty nester is starting to unfold and it’s going to be an exciting and fascinating time to explore.  I’m ready for this next step.  I’ll adjust with time and with that adjustment new adventure is waiting.  It’s just going to take a little time to work out what that will be.

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