Any recommendations on Empty Nest?

Embrace it, love it and go on some trips. You are FREE! I felt nothing but a huge sense of relief and now I could put me first instead of the children. I’d had nearly 30 years of it, murderers get less !

I must be different a day trip with school tore me apart! I suffered terribly when ours left home and it took ages before I accepted it. Now I still feel at a loss sometimes but muddle through until I am needed. I still worry about them and the addition of grandchildren. I must be a natural worrier and I don’t suppose I will ever change. My advice keep busy read garden meet friends have hobbies you will get by.

Yes I know it’s hard, but see this as an opportunity. Keep busy, occupy yourself with hobbies and activity. Join groups walk, WI, U3A. See friends, go away fir short ( or long) breaks, Enjoy your new life.
Our children still need us, but they are beginning their new life adventure and you are too. Good luck.

Same here nanna8 I had 25!

Quite honestly no matter how much you read about it, it takes a long time to adjust if you feel empty nest. Some people don't struggle at all and feel liberated. I definitely found it very hard indeed and I totally didn't expect it - having a busy job, hobbies and a lovely husband. But when my only daughter left home I was poleaxed. It's a journey, really - be kind to yourself and allow yourself to feel those emotions of sadness. Gradually it will lift and you will adjust to your new reality. Try and keep a very light touch with your children and be led by them in terms of contact.

Just to add, many years down the line grandchildren usually come. My daughter asked us to move nearer to them, which we have done and I feel absolute joy looking after my grandson and it's been amongst the most fulfilling times of my life. I totally wasn't expecting this and felt very hopeless when I was bogged down in the years before this happened. As you have five children, I'm sure in future years you will have grandchildren too.

I think empty nest is still very under-recognised and not talked about, unfortunately.

Take the opportunity to buy different food. I found I was buying the same things and no one was eating them. Then I realised I could eat what I liked.

No reading material to suggest Tezhar but this is the beginning of a new chapter in your life so try not to see it as an ending of something, but a new beginning for something else.

Congratulations!! As far as I am concerned, you’ve made it to the finish line in your child rearing journey, so be sure to celebrate yourself in a big way. Do something nice for yourself! Treat yourself with something special.

I would definitely make a list of things you enjoy, preferably inexpensive that can be done semi-regularly, and start mapping out what day to day life would look like. If you aren’t a gran just yet, it’a great to start filling up your life with activities and interests now that do not revolve around grandchildren, adult sons and daughters. Too many get over involved and over-invested and it can be stressful for various reasons. This way, you can just enjoy them without the complicated baggage of being too in the mix, and therefore dependent on them for fulfillment in your later years.

Jaxjacky

Same here nanna8 I had 25!

Twenty-five???

Feeling a tad deprived with not 2

ONLy not not

Heya….thanks all…. So I guess just getting on with it instead of reading up on it is the way to go. I tbh I think you are right.

I have decided to try and get something moving for crocheting hats and blankets for those who will struggle to keep warm this winter. I have just popped a post on the charity forum to ask if others on here would like to help me. So I am going to concentrate on this I think.

My girls are both at uni in London and this will help me not worry sick about them. A great distraction. :-)

Tezhar - I don't know if you have a partner/husband but I loved that we had this time as a couple again. It has been really liberating to do what we want without thinking about the family.
Nanna8 is right! Spread those wings.

In our case we had 5 children so they left home one-by-one. It is still always sad to say goodbye to the ones who live abroad (one in America) and feels empty for a few days but when one came home recently as a house purchase was going through I can honestly say it was a relief when she left!
We both laugh about it as she felt the same!

In this house - our home - she will always be my daughter but in her home she is the woman that I was fortunate enough to help create.
We birth them, we nurture them, we love them with all our hearts - and then we set them free.
Be proud and happy. Your work isn't over but it's a decidedly new phase now.
Celebrate.

Yes, the novel ‘Not Quite Nice’ by Celia Imire

It was a long time ago and my then fledglings are soon about to become empty nesters themselves. As for me - when they fledged I was very busy with work, other activities and an OU French course. I was swimming regularly and going on Ramblers' holidays. I didn't have time to miss the piles of dirty dishes in the sink and the laundry accumulating on their bedroom floors. So my advice is: live for yourself and get involved outside that empty nest.

Ilovecheese

Take the opportunity to buy different food. I found I was buying the same things and no one was eating them. Then I realised I could eat what I liked.

I struggled with my empty nest for quite a while.
I borrowed various cookbooks from the library and did a lot of experimenting with foods we hadn't eaten before - it was fun and each night was like a cafe night. I learned a lot of different ways of using cheaper cuts of meat and vegetables as I had more time for preparation.

I saw your knitting project Tehzar - great idea.

As for reading try Annette Byford :“Once a mother, always a mother. On life with adult children“. It looks at the challenges and tasks of adapting to being a mother of adult children