Empty Nest: What to do

What to do and Expect with your empty nest

The time is coming – you know it – the empty nest. You are so engrossed with preparing for senior year – there are scholarship applications to fill out, colleges to decide on, financial planning, gowns, caps, yearbooks – the list feels endless and overwhelming at times.

Don’t get stuck in the mire of a chapter ending. Rejoice, for both of you because you are both starting what can be fascinating times in your lives. Here are some suggestions of what to do and expect with your empty nest. 

Let’s take a look at the benefits of this new chapter. In no particular order, here are just a few of the empty nest perks you can expect.

Empty Nest Groceries

You are going to save a bundle on grocery expenses. You will open your refrigerator, and there will still be food in there from when you went to the store – last week. Imagine only going to the market once a week, I have even pushed that out to two weeks!

A study conducted in 2017 revealed that parents spent an average of $142 per week on each teen in the house. That is a whopping $7,384 a year! Imagine that going back into your bank account so you can spend it on perks 2 or 3.

Not only will you be saving a bundle at the grocery store, but you will also now be able to treat yourself to dining out more often at half the cost. Enjoy an evening meal where you are seated at tables with white linens and water is served in crystal glasses.  You can have a casual conversation with your love over a glass of wine.

Empty Nest Travel

Let’s talk about travel. With no soccer games, dance recitals, or band practice your weekends are free. You can decide mid-day on a Friday to take a road trip to explore a neighboring town you have meant to visit.

Now you can experience the blessing of the vines during a springtime wine festival with grape stomping competitions. You can get your pirate mojo on at a swashbuckling pirate festival while drinking grog and deciding who’s walking the plank.  Having an empty nest means you can be silly, have fun, practice being young again. 

The Clean Empty Nest

So now that you are thinking about what you can do with your free weekends, think about coming home, and your house is just the way you left it – clean. No dishes piled up in the sink. No dirty clothes strewn about the house leaving a trail from the living room to their bedroom where what do you find? Yup, more dirty dishes. Stacks of glasses, bowls, and plates. And you were wondering where did all the dishes go.

Remember all those times you went to the fridge to get yourself a glass of milk to go with the cookie you were craving? You tip the milk carton expecting a swirl of milk to come pouring out to fill your glass cold frothy goodness only to have it trickle out barely covering the bottom of your glass.

Ok, so no milk, but at least you will still get your cookies because you saw the box in the cupboard. One out of two is not bad as you toss out the empty milk carton and grab the cookie box. But wait, what special surprise waits for you? Crumbs. Just crumbs. With an empty nest, your milk and cookies will be there patiently waiting for your pleasure.

Empty Nest Intimacy

And what about sex with an empty nest? It just became spontaneous and impromptu. If you feel like getting a little frisky on a Sunday afternoon, then, by all means, knock yourselves out!  And you don’t have to be confined to the bedroom, get crazy and risque, try a different room of the house – like the living room! You will feel like newlyweds all over again.

Having a family is an adventure – as is having an empty nest. This is the time that your children blossom as adults and display the values you taught them. Take a deep breath and a step back so they can show you who they are. This is also YOUR time. Your time to pursue your dreams and hobbies that you have been putting off. Go on a journey of discovery learning who you are. You may be surprised how much you have changed over the years.

What empty nest perks are you looking forward to?