best transition ever: grandparenting
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with Natalie caine


Happiness for Empty Nesters

July 1, 2007 | by Natalie Caine | 5 Comments

1. Have someone to talk with who is in or has been in the empty nest
2. Make a plan to get out of the house like going to a bookstore and joining a book club

5 Responses

  1. Nina says:

    Thank you so much for your list of things to do. I am getting ready to lose my son to college and he is my last to go. I have never really worked outside the home for long periods of time just holiday money or fundraising things like that. I am so scared and sad and mad at the same time. I feel my emotions are all over the place and I dont want my son to think he is causing all this turmoil in my life. Just thanks for the list it was a good starting point.

  2. Mary says:

    I feel like its the end of the world, I am a divorced mother for 7 years and it has hurt my girls and me. Now my youngest is starting college and I am moving to a new town to teach, I’m working on getting a home loan, and I don’t even know what I am doing. My daughters are real tired of my emotional problems due to the “empty nest”. I am afraid I can’t make it alone. Scared, sad, and very lonely.

  3. Jane Idell says:

    What could ever be as rewarding as raising your children well? Even though I am married, my husband doesn’t get it. He thinks he can go on e-amiling and im-ing the kids continuously throughout the day and wait for grandchildren (our kids aren’t even married or dating anyone steady!) He’s just totally on his own planet and no help to me. I want to thank Mary and the other women for being so honest about how they are felling and what they are going through. I think people who know casually don’t want to hear it. None of my close friends seem to be hit as hard by this (or at all)as me. I wish I knew how long this was going to last. My youngest is a senior in college. I think I started feeling this way when he was a senior in high school. I feel myself dragging through the day. Jane

  4. Lynn says:

    My youngest is off to college in the fall. My oldest graduated from college last year and decided to move to Florida for a couple of years. I find myself constantly thinking about the future. Will I be lonely? I’m shy and find it hard to make new friends. What do I do with myself? I think the biggest problem is re-connecting with my husband. It’s been so long since we were just us. The hardest part is realizing that your children are young adults and moving on.

  5. Cathy Connelly says:

    I feel like I will never stop sobbing…out of 4 children, 2 have graduated college and moved on successfully, the younger 2 are still in college but live away (and seems like they cannot bear the thought of home visits) I have been single for 12 years and now my parents (with whom I am VERY close) are dying…my essence of being a daughter as well as a mother is dying and am as sad as ever..any advice?

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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org