You know you have The Empty Nest when

I was thinking about how things have changed now that we really do have our empty nest.

 

Empty Nest Reality

 

I noticed areas of the house are cleaner than they used to be.
I noticed I don’t wash clothes as often.
I noticed I didn’t  wash dishes as often.
I noticed the grocery bills were lower.
I noticed I grabbed  for the phone when a text comes through, hoping it’s one of the kids..
I noticed my  calendar has emptier space, since our son’s activities aren’t  penciled in.

 

Empty Nest Chores

 

The house is cleaner?  After I really thought about it, since we live in a 900 sq. foot cottage I have always been a pretty strict cleaner.  Oh, it’s not Good Housekeeping picture ready.  Don’t get me wrong.  You will find the jacket draped on the chair, dishes I left in the sink this morning.  We downsized a long time ago, and now it’s a pretty comfortable arrangement.  The fun project now as part of our re-feathered nest is a closet cleaning project.  My goal is to get rid of half of my clothes and be able to use the other half of my closet to fit a little office desk where I can write and create in a small piece of quiet.

I don’t wash clothes as often and especially in the Winter, that’s for sure.  But being in the South, the Texas Summer heat can be unbearable and it’s been known that we would have to change clothes 2 times a day.  Also, I haven’t washed clothes as often for a while.  When our son became a Junior in High School, he took it upon himself to learn to do his own laundry (probably got tired of waiting on me to wash his favorite pair of jeans!).

Washing dishes has been a big game changer for me.  We live in our little cottage and don’t have a dishwasher (yucky, they use WAY too much water).  I’ve always washed dishes by hand, even when we had one back when we were first married.  But, hubby, if you are reading this, don’t get any ideas.  When we have our dream home, I DO want a dishwasher for holiday meals =)   Anyway, now that there is the two of us and we use mostly our “fine china, i.e., paper plates) I really don’t wash dishes like I used to which was 2 times a day.

Son not at home = fewer grocery bills.  Needs no explanation =)

 

Empty Nest Communication

Ah, the texts. I don’t nag our son and DIL.  I would love to hear from them every day, but I know they are busy building their little family.  Besides, I have Facebook so I sort of am able to keep tabs on them =)  BUT, first grandbaby is on the way – nagging will probably resume in about 1 month after he gets here !!

The empty calendar.  It’s been 5 years since our son left for college.  I’m just now, after 5 years, getting to a point where I’ve said “it’s now time to start filling up some of this space and doing things. ”  Hubby and I have enjoyed our traveling and we have lots of acreage to take care of.  We are still going to travel and enjoy our wonderful time together. But, I’m enjoying now the fun of pursuing one of my passions of writing and building my entrepreneurial spirit.

 

Empty Nest Advice

Let change come in time.  I didn’t rush into too many new things and personally think that’s the best advice to give to anyone in the Empty Nest.

Give thanks for your empty nest and enjoy the glorious time!

Kim Steadman is the COOP (Chief Online Operating Person) for The Re-Feathered Nest. A place of encouragement for moms entering the Empty Nest Zone who find they need to Re-Purpose and Re-Design their lives now that the kids have flown the coop. Kim can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheRefeatheredNest and on Google+ at +Kim.