When our children fly the nest, it’s always going to be bittersweet. As mothers, are children will always be our babies no matter how old they get, and it can be both worrying and upsetting knowing that they won’t be coming back home to us every day. But on the other hand, our kids moving out and getting their own place means we’ve done our job as parents. We’ve raised them, kept them healthy and helped them to learn the skills they need to get out there and live their lives as independent and productive members of society. Don’t sink into a depression when your kids have left home, instead, focus on the positives. Here are five things you should aim to do.
Travel
Raising children is expensive- while you might be lucky enough to have had an annual family vacation, chances are you haven’t travelled all that much since having kids. If you have somewhere you’ve always wanted to go- book it! This is your time for you so enjoy it, go with your partner if you have one, otherwise make it a girls trip. Use the opportunity to learn new things and expand your mind, find out about different cultures, food and religions. Speak to new people, really immerse yourself. You could volunteer abroad, go backpacking or just go and lie on a sandy white beach and sip some cocktails- whatever you like!
Go back to school
Just because you’re later in life doesn’t mean you should stop learning. In fact, the older we get, the more we understand just how little we do know. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there for us to take in, and best of all, it’s very accessible these days. You could go back to college or university, or you could take a course from home. You can find everything from psychology to creative writing to online nursing programs these days, just about everything you’d ever want to study can be found somewhere on the internet. Maybe you want to gain a promotion or change jobs, if so these skills can help you. But even if you don’t, study is good for the soul, it keeps the mind sharp and gives you something productive to focus on.
Turn their room into something useful
It’s tempting to want to keep your child’s room the way it is when they move out, ‘just in case’. But this kind of thinking isn’t benefiting anyone, trust in their decisions and abilities. If they do come back in the future you can always change the room back, but in many cases they never will. Transform their room into something that’s useful to you- it could be a home gym, an office or a beautiful guest room. That way they can come and stay whenever they like, but you can invite other guests too without them feeling like they’re staying in someone’s bedroom.
