Our Empty Nest After 28 Days

I can’t believe that it’s really only been 28 days that we have had an empty nest.  That is, 28 days with no kids in the house.  You see, we didn’t get them all out of the house until after Thanksgiving weekend so after subtracting for having kids home at Winter Break, we have only had an empty house for 28 days.  Counting today.

I am beginning to really realize that we are only at the first stage of becoming empty nesters.  You see we have quite quickly gotten used to having the house to ourselves so that when they do come home it is quite an adjustment.  For us.

Out of sight, out of mind.  I don’t worry about what time they are coming home when they are away at school.  When they are home and coming and going at all hours of the day and night – okay, night – it’s much more disruptive.  And worrisome.

We have three kids in college so we continue to have three kids on the family dole and three kids on our tax return and three kids for whom we continue to pay cell phone bills.  We won’t be true empty nesters, completely empty nesters, until after they are completely moved out of the house, living on their own, and paying their own cell phone bills.

So, we have a way to go.

It hasn’t taken long to get used to a few things about living alone with DSH, though.  A quiet house.  A house that stays clean more than 2 hours after spending an entire day working on it.  Only having to clean the house a few times a month because it stays clean longer.

Actually checking stuff off the honey-do list.  Stuff that has been on it for over a year.  One thing was checked off recently that has been on it for years!  We have NO major projects left on our honey-do list!

Kids rooms where you can see the floor.  And the closet doors stay closed.  And the beds are always made.  And the bathroom without gobs of hair in the sink and damp towels on the floor.

Not walking through the house turning off lights and unplugging phone chargers, laptop batteries, flat irons.

And the laundry.  For only two people.  Well, not so much the laundry.  I always liked doing the laundry.

Some things are harder to get used to doing.  Or not doing as the case may be.  Cooking for two is hard.  Grocery shopping for two is hard.  I don’t know how many gallons of milk we bought and threw out before we realized that we could buy it in smaller containers.  Call us slow learners.  In all fairness, I grew up in a large family and we had a large family so the cooking and grocery shopping is a major life change for me.

One thing that we have not done well is to have interests or hobbies outside of what we did with our kids.  So, we have to work on that.  We have to work on doing stuff, now that we have time, other than working.  Working at work and working at home.

Our empty nest after 28 days.  We’re working on it.