An Empty Nest, a Positive Attitude

Posted by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick Apr 19, 2007

Sending your child away to college is a heart-wrenching experience.

When my husband and I drove away from the campus where my 18-year-old son would be staying, I was a little teary.

But after the hour-long drive home, I was eager to get my hands on a bucket and some Lysol, to start cleaning out his bedroom closet, which had become a toxic waste dump.

Some stay-at-home parents feel especially abandoned when their children leave home. “I gave up my career for you, and you repay me by leaving this house to live in a 10-by-10 dorm room and eat cafeteria food?” Of course we don’t say that, but we sometimes think it.

Plus, we miss them.

Somewhere between the extremes of staying in bed crying all day and turning his bedroom into a sewing room before his first semester mid-terms, there is a middle ground. It involves going out to dinner more often, finishing a conversation with your spouse, finding your car where you last left it, and simply getting on with the next stage of your life.

If your child is preparing to leave for college, start focusing on the positives.

There is a bright side to an empty nest.

It’s clean and it smells like Lysol.

See what experts have to say about how to deal with your new life in Dealing with Empty Nest Syndrome.

Read more about how to help your child in his college search in Choosing a College for Your Child.