I have been married for 36 years.  I can’t believe it sometimes, the time has gone so fast.  My husband and I had children after our second year of marriage.  I hardly remember the time we did not have children. That is what we have always done,raise children. I have enjoyed every minute of raising children. Now that they have left home, I have discovered the empty nest is not so bad. As a matter of fact I think it should be something we look forward to and not dread. The empty nest can be a time of growth and development.

Try Something New

There are so many things I have always wanted to try. I am a creative at heart. I guess that is why I loved sewing for my children when they were little.  Now I do not have the drive to sew or smock the way I used to. I could dream a new dress or smocking design and have it done in 2-3 days. It is a struggle for me to sew something now.  Why because the motivation is not the same as it used to be.  My children were my focus.  Seeing them in a creation by me was fun and motivating.  I need new motivation now. So try something new.  Like what, gosh there are so many things to try.

Take A Cooking Class

Don’t get me wrong, I like macaroni and cheese just like the rest of us, but something different and elegant is nice too. In our hometown the YMCA offers mediterranean and greek cooking classes.  I would love to take either one.  I used to have to just get something on the table, but now that we have an empty nest I have the luxury of cooking something a little more glamorous.

Take a Dance Class

Every time my husband and I go to a wedding I end up dancing with my sister or someone else. He just will not get on the dance floor. Our University offers dance classes at night.  My husband actually signed us up for class.  We went one time a week for 8 weeks and learned our state dance The Shag.  It was so much fun.  We would never have done that is our children were home. I had four children, I was busy taking THEM to dance class, and baseball games as well as piano, cheerleading, football and multiple other activities. This was the chance for my husband and I to do something fun.

Go Somewhere Fun, You Have An Empty Nest

We put off going so many places over the years because of our children.  Now we took them plenty of places as well, but there were some trips we just could not afford to make because of having everyone at home and busy.  This year we made a commitment to visit as many places in the US as we possibly can. Only 1 of our married children lives near us now. So we have an excuse to go and visit them and see the US. Last fall we made a trip to Maine. It was an amazing trip. We followed the coast up to  Canada and even went whale watching. I will never forget the awesome trip on the ocean, seeing those amazing whales.

I still can not believe how amazing they are and how close we were to them. Now yes my children could have gone with us at some point in our life, but there is nothing wrong with enjoying the empty nest time my husband and I have now.  We are going to take advantage of this time and see some special places as well as visit our children.

Maybe having an empty nest is new to you or the whole idea of your children being gone is depressing and a real downer.  It doesn’t have to be.  There are loads of things to do.  I just mentioned a few of the things that I have done so far, but I have tons more on my list.  I am calling it The Ultimate Empty Nester’s To Do List.  Hopefully it will be just a starters list for you. I am hoping you will look at a few of the ideas and it will create some more in your mind.

Don’t let the empty nest scare you.  See this as a time for yourself. This maybe the chance to do something you have always wanted to do but never had the time.  Just do one thing this time in your life that you have never been able to do. Enjoy yourself a little.  You deserve it after being such a fantastic mom and wife. Honestly, Janet