Preparing for the "Empty Nest"

Lori and I were sitting home tonight on the sofa in the family room watching Jeopardy! on TV, and we realized that we were alone. Jeff is off to college and Melanie was away at some school function. We didn't have any projects going, and we could actually sit and relax. We kept wondering why we were able to just sit there and veg out...well of course! It's because the house is completed and on the market.

I was thinking to myself that tonight must be what the "empty nest" will feel like once Melanie heads to college (hopefully far enough away to have to stay on campus). It was too quiet, actually and it will take some getting used to. Not that it will be a bad thing, but just that it will take some practice. Our neighbors, Kirk and Janet are enjoying their recently emptied nest by playing more tennis and traveling a bit more. They also just moved down the block, so they spend a lot of time thinking about redecorating, furniture shopping, etc.

Lots of my younger co-workers are announcing pregnancies, weddings, and other key milestones of younger lives. We chat and when they find out my kids are almost gone, they wonder how young we were when we started a family. I explain it to them that it isn't how old you are when you decide to have kids, it is how old you want to be when you can enjoy life after they are gone...that makes the decision about when to have kids go much smoother and easier. When you are young, first married and contemplating a family, it never seems to be the right time...or you never seem like you have enough money...it is always something. So Lori and I did "scenario planning". We took our lives far out into the future and asked ourselves how old we wanted to be when the kids left the nest...guess what? The decision about when to start was made in 5 seconds!

Maybe this blog space will also start including tips for parenting...ha! I can start draining all this powerful parenting thought out of my brain and onto this page. Potty training tips, allowance advice, Daddy's 401K plan, goal setting, the opposite sex, dating, driver's ed...the list is endless. But I digress...

Lori, me and the dog...gonna take some getting used to, but I think we will like it!

Chow!