with Natalie caine

March 21, 2010 | by Natalie Caine | No Comments

I thought I was done posting my Spring Jasmine, but I just can’t help myself.  Beauty wins.

It reminds me of times I thought I was done telling my daughter or husband that I wasn’t going to clean the dishes after dinner.  Your turn.  I cook.
You clean up. You cook. I clean. 

Actually, I don’t follow rules all the time unless they serve me.  Can you relate?  Sure, there are times I cook and do dishes. Mostly I want the family to be considerate and pitch in without my holding up the TO DO SIGN.

That isn’t an issue anymore since she doesn’t live at home, being a college graduate.

A mom called telling me she thought she was over Spring Break without her children coming home.  She wept. It wasn’t really about Spring Break. It was about the break in the relationship. Break from being the everyday mom that she loved. She missed the little things like hearing them talk on the phone, drop their back packs in the kitchen and dive into the refrigerator as she asked about their day.  Now she sees them only twice a year.  Distance, scheduling, and finances changed the traditions of family time.

A Boomer mom, who doesn’t have an empty nest, but does have a senior in high school, thought she was done nagging him because she knows it doesn’t teach him or give the results she is hoping for. She shared she has said, SORRY, more this year than any time in her life.  She fears how she will be when he leaves for college.  Will she promise not to hover and then show up at his dorm unannounced because she just couldn’t help herself?  We had a good laugh after the tears.

Maybe you thought you wouldn’t RESCUE them financially, but still put money in their account.

Maybe you were going to stop the OBSESSION about not knowing what is next for you but are still hammering in your head to get THE ANSWER NOW.
Maybe you said you were going to take better care of yourself by saying NO but that YES just slipped out.

Maybe you thought you were in the swing of being an empty nester and they MOVED BACK home.

What did you think you were done with and aren’t at times?

Take care,
Natalie
natalie@emptynestsupport.com
818-763-0188
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