Parents ask me if their children’s behavior of indecisiveness is damaging? I believe there is the up side and the down. You learn through choices and mistakes. When you become immobile that is limiting and frightening. Get help.When you move slower you see and feel more. Children might take a break from education, work and
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Parents ask me, “What do I do with my children’s stuff now that they are out of the house?” ASK THEM AND SAY WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO WITH IT. Let them know you won’t be the storage unit for them. You want to have open space and a new nest for yourself that
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I still remember the excitement of Parent Weekend. I didn’t like traveling 3000 miles but I did like the time to read newspapers which I always gather at the airport. I went four years and am so grateful I didn’t have to miss them. Hugs, meals, shopping, stories, laughing, and meeting her new friends are
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I will be volunteering Wednesday with THE WELLNESS COMMUNITY, thelargest cancer support organization worldwide. I am happy to stand tall for a cure for cancer and reach a hand to those in treatment. Each of us finds a way to “volunteer.” How you do it , is your way of caring. Some don’t even leave
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“Today, like every other day, we wake up emptyAnd frightened. Don’t open the door to the study And begin reading. Take down the dulcimer. Let the beauty we love be what we do.There are hundreds of ways to kiss the ground.” Rumi When empty nesters and boomers have the blues, they want to find ways to
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Did you see last night’s Cougar Town on television? Could you, empty nester, relate? “He needs me.” Mom quickly drove to his dorm. Have you done that? Have you wanted to do that? How are you doing these days in your empty nest transition? During a telephone session, a mom cried. She just didn’t think
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Which television show do you watch that connects you with your friends? My long time friend, who now lives in another state, talks to me as I with her about Martha Stewart. It makes us laugh and brings back memories of cooking and crafts we use to do with our children. We don’t often watch
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“I have found that to love and be loved is the most empowering and exhilarating of all human emotions.” — Jane Goodall 1. No matter if you are married, single, career or non-career, tears will fall.2. You thought you prepared for the role shift and still you are confused who you are now and who your children
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When the house is silent, the missing crawls around. You search for why you feel so different. You think you shouldn’t be so off balance or tearful. You are. Truth is answers won’t change your heavy heart. They may band aid, which is a good thing. You need a rest, a break, a quiet mind.
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You want to be strong. Stand tall. You miss those you love. You curl into yourself. Still both hold beauty. Both hold gifts. In the rest and solo time, you reflect, weep, and refresh. You stand confident and step. You can’t always be present. You can’t always do the right thing. You can’t always shift
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I was helping a friend happily begin her college year at UCLA. Details, sore muscles, new faces, and no one talking about the big hug goodbye.Isn’t that the perfect mask by being busy and in a flow of getting the jobs done? Strangers sending smiles to each other. The secret language of CAN YOU BELIEVE
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Do you walk your neighborhood without a pet and wish you had one? A woman, baby boomer, and empty nester, was sharing with me about her silent home and thoughts of getting a pet. She sees her community with dogs, birds, cats, and she walks alone. I bet you can guess her concerns. FREEDOM and
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Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org