We are at two and a half weeks of being empty nesters.
I am counting down the days to my son coming home from his
mission. I think I might be causing stress to others. People will say
how did it get to be September so fast. I like to reply, "Soon it will be January and
then I'll be that much closer to my son coming home. Everyone replies
let's just stay in September, I'm not ready for winter yet. Even with
the counting down to his coming back home, there is this little thought
in my mind that says he is coming home to leave home. We will
get him for a few months and then he will go to college.
My husband on my request made some birds to
go with our empty nest sign. This is our daughters bird with
her karate gloves on.
This is our son's bird sitting in a sombrero.
My daughter thinks we should have two parent birds kissing in the nest.
I don't think my husband is up to drawing anything more for me.
I think one of the times I really miss my children is at dinner time.
We had so much fun at dinner together as a family.
Now I'm learning to cook for two.
This fall and winter I want to try a different soup every week.
This recipe came out really good.
Each week we go out on some kind of date.
Last week we went to the gardens and tried to find
the hidden dinosaurs in the trees. We found 12 of the 36.
At some point you just get tired of looking up at the trees.
They are starting to decorate for fall.
This potted plant arrangement was pretty.
My son is doing really well on his mission. It's very hot
where he is in Mexico. I think when winter comes he is going
to feel very cold. I think more of him lately as what a brave thing
to do, leave home and only get to e-mail your family once a week. We also
only get to talk 4 times during his whole mission. We only have one phone call left before he comes home. I love when I get photo's of him. My daughter has been homesick, and I don't
think I even thought about it with my son. He never really complained about missing us.
His letters say he misses us a lot, but I don't think until my daughter left and called home, or
texted that I really thought how hard it must have been for my son.
I went to the book store today and saw this book. It made me think of the past few days with my daughter. She thought she had lost her student ID card. This card gets you into your dorm.
It's how you pay for your food, and you get to ride the trains with it too. So she was feeling bad, and worried. I was glad she texted me even though it was at 12:30 am. She is a night owl.
Thankfully she found her lost card in her room. I get to see my daughter at least once a week due to her Karate class. She is determined to be a black belt someday. We text at least twice a day.
When she is upset she calls. I sometimes come home and think wouldn't it be nice to go for a walk with my daughter today. We did so many mother daughter things together that some days I miss it. But I see this young woman going out into the world and learning and I know it's where she is supposed to be. I also know that I'm still needed. That helps.
Are you an Empty Nester?
What tips would you give to someone who has just had their last child leave?
I realized this week that there are other first leaving times with children. I had a lot of mothers of young children come in where I work this week looking lost. Their first or last child just started Kindergarten. They are not sure what to do with those few hours of free time. I remember crying when my son left for Kindergarten. It's hard to adjust to the changing life of your children, just when you get used to them being one age they go and grow up.
I always say to young mothers enjoy every moment you have with your little children, they grow up way too fast.
G.G.
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