Coming up on almost a full week of our new status, empty nester's, and I can say that so far, so good. Of course it helps that my youngest daughter is a mere half hour drive from our home. This was something that concerned us at the beginning, but we believe she will settle in and begin to feel more independent every day

So what did we do our first week of independence ourselves? We worked a...read more

I have decided that either I am a woman on the edge of the rest of my life, or I will be a basket case until the end of it. Sounds funny right? Well, as many of you know, and many have gone through yourself, I am about to begin the empty nest stage of my life

I have enjoyed one of the greatest weeks of my life, all three of my kids were home at once. Our oldest has already graduated from college...read more

My 18 year old daughter just left on a road trip that she has spent her entire summer planning. Joined by three other friends, they headed south to California, a natural destination for fresh graduates filled with a new found sense of freedom. A new sense of freedom for them, but not necessarily the feelings shared by their parents

When the subject of a California road trip first came up, of course...read more

Maybe because of the place we are at right now, on the brink of the empty nest, or maybe because of the economy, who knows, but I have been looking hard and long at my children. Do you still call them children at 18 and 20? In our society you do. They may have been full blown adults at that age a century ago, but not today. And that is part of what has been bothering me

Has our generation of parents...read more

Last night I attended my final graduation open house, for this year that is. Halfway through the chaos of our own daughter's open house my husband and I stopped and looked at each other. Who had come up with the concept of a graduation open house in the first place? When did people start doing this?

I don't remember such elaborate celebrations when I graduated. Of course that was 35 years...read more

Wow! I am not sure if anyone noticed my conspicuous absence from the blogging world, but I have a great excuse. I threw an all night party for a couple hundred teenagers, and yes, it did make me crazy and consume every moment of my life for the last few weeks

For our son's graduation last year, I worked on the committee for the Senior Safe & Sane party. For all of you who don't know what...read more

My son Parker just arrived home from his first year of college. Wow. I am sure I just took him for his first day of kindergarten. I know the saying has been around forever, but it really is true, one day they are babies, the next day they are gone

As mom's, we carry snapshots of time around in our hearts and our minds. Frozen moments of wonder with our children that for some reason stick there...read more

I believe the empty nest syndrome is not really a syndrome at all, but just another stage in life. Maybe times have changed over the years, but when a child leaves for college now days, it seems they don't really leave at all. Even if they are attending a college far from home, somehow they still end up on the doorstep way more than you ever imagined

I remember seeing the commercials where the...read more