Seniors what age were you when your nest was empty? How did you deal with E.N.S and are you okay with it now?

Question

Or how do you deal with it?

I do enjoy my peace but I to have them close by and i see them very often. Still i have good memories of the way it was.

Answer 1

At first I was sad.I cryed a lot for silly reasons but I also was going though menopause. I loved my new daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws
but I missed making pancakes on
Saturday morning and having someone to watch cartoons with.
Then I too had the revolving door and have helped raise two of our grandchildren......Now it has been three years and I have my own life never thought I would say this but I like having the house just me and my husband..
It takes a while but gee my children were our whole lives for so long.
Happy Holidays

Answer 2

My first trek into ENS was when I was 48 and my then 21 yr old son decided it was time for him to go out on his own...It only lasted about 8 mos and he came back so I didn't have much time to experience that state.

However, he moved away permanently in 1995 when I was 53...and yes, I had a hard time.

He was my last one to leave the nest and we got along famously and I really enjoyed him. After he left it dawned on me that I had NEVER lived alone in my entire adult life! I went straight from living with my parents to marriage, kids, divorce [but still kids]....so I had to learn how to be single and 'without' so to speak. That entailed learning how to cook for myself and not an army! - structuring my home to suit myself, instead of others; developing new pasttimes/interests and setting up NEW habits to replace the ones that were 'family centered'.

After awhile I began to really enjoy it as I learned more and more about myself and started doing all those things I seemed never to have t he time to do, or the money while family was in the home.

Have enjoyed it ever since - until this year!..I am now 65 and 12 years since ENS came to visit and stayed...and now I'm getting a tad lonely - ;-) Must be the age! lol

Answer 3

I was about 47 . The house was empty for about 2 years, then We had the youngest and her family move back in to help take care of her father while I was at work. When he passed, they stayed with me, until we had a house fire, and they got their own place and I have mine. So it has only been 2 years that I have an empty nest. The grandkids come over almost every weekend, they miss being with me, and they are 15 and 12. I guess I am a good granny.

Answer 4

I was about 42 when everyone left. Just hubby and me seemed so strange, I wasn't sure we would have anything to talk about without the 3 kids. that was 23 yrs ago, and I love it, when the kids and their families come for a LONG day, we are so pooped when they leave we just go to bed! I did miss them a lot and actually invited them to move in with their families, but by then all had moved to several different states, 2 have moved back to 1 1/2 hrs away and 1 lives 3 1/2 hrs away,I do try to keep in touch with phone and E Mails but hubby and I love our life now, we have never been closer even tho we both have many medical problems,we do what we want and don't have to follow a clock. Don't worry, everyone of our friends who now are empty nesters,have started enjoying life.The kids all still have keys and they know that they would always be welcome back if there was a need and that goes for their families too.

Answer 5

This summer both my adult children who have been in and out and off and on going to college FINALLY graduated and both married within a few months of each other, which of course was tough on me! But I am glad that they have started their new lives and with someone they truly love. I don't have ENS but I am at a point where the kids are just not coming around much at all. So that makes me sad, but I am trying to figure out what to do with my life, now that I have more time for what I want to do. No I am not ok yet but I believe that I will be and that God has a plan for me. See I have little family left, and so I am really alone...which makes it harder I guess. I mean I have a cousin 500 miles away in the TUNDRA lol! and I have a nephew and his family that I love much and don't see much as they are both working way too many hours. So I hope to spend more time helping them with the kids, and helping my friend who is not well and I am a big sister to a little girl whose mother comes and goes for months at a time so since she was born, I have been spending time with her each week and she is a Godsend. I am working on my home as an investment for the future, paint on canvas, and travel when I am well enough to do so. So these are the ways I deal with the moving on of my children. I hope that one day my adult children will start coming around again and maybe I will be lucky enough to have a grandchild or two! Hope that helps!

Answer 6

I had a 70's party and got married a month later.
Was in my early 40's. Three years later, my youngest daughter moved back-in with three kids and stayed for 18 months. I say, enjoy now.

Interesting, I was watching a nature channel recently and was at awe how all of God's creatures, except some human, instinctively knows when to let their off- springs go, some even kicking them out of the nest.

This should be a joy. You've accomplish this chapter, raising your kids. My question was "what's the next adventure?"

Answer 7

I was 45 when my last child left home. I never suffered from Empty Nest Syndrome. Yes, there were days when I worried about my young adult children but I knew they were ready to leave home, that it was time. My husband and I enjoyed having time for just the two of us. Our children were always good about calling and coming home for visits. They are in their 30's now with young families of their own. Time moves on and it's best to accept the changes and enjoy each stage of life. There's no use looking backwards.

Answer 8

I was 43 when my youngest moved out and into a condo with some of his buddies-he was 20. My daughter, who was the oldest, had been out about 2 years-she was 21.

I was thrilled for them and for me. I raised my kids to be independent, to set goals and meet them and to be self sufficient. My son and daughter knew how to take care of themselves by the time they were in their very early teens.

Leaving home and going out on their own was simply another step to reaching your goals.

They are in their mid-to-late 40's now and have both excelled.

As for me, I offered the home to either one or both of them. It was paid off...they'd just have to pay the taxes. They weren't interested at that time so I sold it and moved into a nice 2 bedroom apartment and got on with my life.

We have always been close and still are. See each other regularly and call..... I'm proud of them.

I never had the "empty nest" thingie.

Answer 9

I was 40 when my oldest went off to college. Every day when I got home from work I sat down with his baby album and cried, til finally one day my daughter took the book out of my hands and said I must stop doing that. Five years later she left and I was so crushed - good thing I have a wonderful husband to keep me company! But, two years later she blessed me with a grandchild, then my elderly father developed the habit of just walking in any time day OR NIGHT, and now the 32 year old is living with us again! We have to plan ahead for privacy when we want it, but I absolutely love the company! (We also got a dog - that always helps!)

Answer 10

Maybe, I'm the exception, but I couldn't wait for my sons to leave!

I have a daughter, but she is handicapped, and needs my attention most of the day, so I shouldn't have to be concerned Empty Nest' for a while!

It would be difficult, to be affected by feels, of an Empty Nest when I realize, there is so much to do!

Good Luck!