Pre- Empty Nest Syndrome
Lately, we seem to be experiencing at least brief episodes of there being NO TEENS at home! Mind you, there is still a heap of action on most days (and NIGHTS) to keep me doing head counts, body counts and car counts, but the two teens who are living at home, Austin and Lydia have been on the go. Both are extremely social and are never at a loss for plans. Add in that Lydia has recently obtained her drivers license and you can imagine the implications.
She is now lots more mobile and is independently getting herself wherever she needs or wants to go, which equates for somewhat less driving for me. It is good and bad….I worry about the safety of my brand new driver, but her driving means less backing out of the driveway for me. She is even taking Austin to some of his destinations or fetching him back, and otherwise, he is very creative, crafty and resourceful when it comes to his transportation. So that leaves me with what seems like significantly less taxiing. It actually feels a bit strange.
It surely is a sign of things to come….meaning that these teens are becoming more mobile, more autonomous, more independently functioning – they are growing up, out and away! There have even been a few times just lately that literally both Austin and Lydia have been away over night at the same time, meaning that there were no kids at home at all, since Kass is always away at art school. It seems downright odd and I find myself looking around for something to be on guard about!
Don’t get me wrong – I am NOT bored, don’t even know the meaning of the word! I have TONS of things to do inside and outside and beyond to keep me hopping, lists to check off, side tracked projects to pick back up, closets to clean and organize, phone calls to finally make and it goes on and on. And before I can really dig too heavily into one of these said projects, the door flings open with not only my teens but usually a few more in tow, ready to raid the refrigerator. Still, there seems to be more frequency of at least short periods of the house without kids, a bittersweet notion – I like it both ways.
It occurs to me that it won’t be much longer before those quiet spells at home become the norm. How have others adjusted to home life after “the storm”?
