Empty Nesting

2 Boomer Babes…



On Empty Nesting

An eerie noise penetrates our homes these days. It’s that dead quiet type of sound that resonates so loud that one can hardly hear it. There’s a strange lack of footsteps and scrambles, fridge doors opening and closing, shouts of joy and streaks of despair having often occurred in the same breath. Our computer screens are oddly lacking a Facebook page and the incessant clicking noise radiating from the keyboard has gone silent.

These days we’re not tripping over pairs of shoes or dirty towels scattered here and there, and the kitchen sink is void of dirty dishes (never understood why they couldn’t make it to the dishwasher). We marvel at the beds that somehow magically make themselves and admire the previously unseen hardwood floors of our children’s bedrooms. Glancing into the almost empty laundry basket, we savor the idea of doing wash (maybe) once a week. We smile, a bit guiltily, at the sight of the couch returning to its former shape, as the indentation of the prone teenage body slowly begins to recede. At a given moment, we are still prepared to feed ten hungry teenagers. Yet, snacks remain in the pantry, ice cream and pizza in the freezer, untouched. Yes, these are the signs that our kids are gone.

Generations before us have mastered the art of life without children. The only difference this time is that it’s our turn. We’ve always been the young set: the group that was conceived in celebration of the end of WWII. Our age group, the largest of its kind, has boomed. We’ve sent our youngest off to college, the military, to work or wherever and now we, the boomers, are headed where we have not been before. We have a guilty giddiness about being an “empty nester.” Our emotions are schizophrenic. We are sad, happy, relieved, worried, excited, and scared. This life stage knows no race, creed, particular age or gender only that we share the common bond of parenthood.

We want to introduce you, our readers, to the opportunity to reinvent our lives: whether it’s that book club you’ve wanted to join or the NGO you’ve been longing to start. We will highlight individuals who have taken the plunge, pioneers of our generation and those before us who have woven their experiences and passions into a new found joy. We’ll explore issues such as downsizing, reigniting or maintaining the romance, travel adventures, aging parents, and return of the kids, to name a few. We'll poke fun at ourselves and the dilemnas we face and ask for your expert advice.

We invite you to join our blog as we discover the limitless possibilities of our next life venture.

Note from the authors: As young mothers searching for ways to entertain and stimulate our children, we created and co-hosted the “Our Kids” television series which was awarded Best New Show for the cable network. With a bit of help from our spouses, we have each raised two wonderful children, all now in college, embraced eclectic careers, enjoyed a twenty year long distance sisterly friendship, and have recently become empty nesters.

Email your comments to Kathy and Barb at 2boomerbabes@gmail.com or post them by clicking on the comment section located at the bottom of this blog.