Mommy Corner: Empty Nest Syndrome?

Flossie Alexander

Empty Nest? Or New Opportunity?

As Tiffanee and I walked up to the school I said to her, "Do you realize this is the last first day of elementary school that we will ever have?" And she says with a smile, "Ya, that's weird mom."  It is weird to me too with her being the last of 7 kids in elementary school with 3 in college now.

Can you say EMPTY NEST SYNDROME comin' my way!?

Millions of mothers and fathers every year experience sending their baby off to school for the very last day of the first day of elementary.   What does this mean with our kids growing up?  With my own experience, I know once they hit middle  school, it seems that time flies by super-fast.  There aren't many parties to host in school anymore or field trips that need chaperoning anymore. Our kids develop and independence.

We start to feel the breeze of free time floating into our space for the first time in years. I started realizing this last year when I sat in my house alone and everyone else was off doing "their own thing" and I had no idea what to do with myself.

The bottom line: what this really means is we will start having more time to focus on ourselves.

Getting to that YOU Time

With your new found "YOU TIME," do an inventory of where you are health wise:  Do you feel good about you?  Is it time to join some social groups to get you out and making friends?  Do you need to join a gym or get a health/weight loss coach to create a new you?  Do you have the career you want? Have you accomplished everything you wanted to do when you were planning your future at 18? Where do you want to be in 5 years when your baby is on his or her way to graduate from high school? Where do you want to be in 10 years?  How do you want to retire from the working world?

The "Where do you want to be?" question is something I ask myself EVERY day now.  When you come to that moment when your world has been interrupted by your kids pitter patting off into their own world and you realize the colors on the walls aren't as bright as they used to be, it is time to create the YOU world and get back to accomplishing everything you ever wanted.


Be Healthy Every Day, You Are Worth It!

Flossie, Fitness and Nutrition Editor