Parenting is a funny thing. At the beginning after the countless sleepless nights it can feel as though your days as a parent will last forever. But then it seems like it passes in the blink of an eye.
Your kids grow a few feet each year and if you have boys they can start to tower over you. Before long they’re leaving home and starting a brand new chapter in this life? So, how do you handle it when after eighteen years, your home is empty once more?
Here are some options that are worth considering.
Foster
If you’re not ready to give up being a parent, then there’s one option that you should definitely consider when your kids move out of the house. You can think about fostering. By fostering you will be providing a child with the opportunity to have a warm and loving family that they might have been missing. To Begin this journey you need to find the best fostering agencies. The right agency will have your interests and the child’s interests at heart, ensuring that the right match is made.
Travel
If your kids have gone and you’re not planning to foster, then you could take the opportunity to start traveling more. Perhaps you never traveled when you were younger or you did and loved it. In either case an empty home means that you can once again start exploring this possibility. Of course, if you are doing this then it might not make much sense to hang onto your home. This brings us to another possibility.
Sell
One of the problems when the kids leave home is that it can leave you with a house that’s far larger than you need. It can feel empty and a little desolate. To deal with this, you might want to think about selling the property and moving to a smaller place. Don’t forget, this is always going to free up some of your funds which you can use to spend on various endeavours including the traveling that we mentioned above.
Focus
Finally, you might want to spend the time after your kids leave to go to uni or move out focusing on goals that you have perhaps had on the back burner for several years. Maybe you always wanted to write a novel? If that’s the case it might finally be time to put pen to paper. Or, you could think about starting your own business? While it is possible to run a business while you have kids, it’s certainly not easy to go down this route. But once the kids move out you’ll have all the time in the world to make your startup a terrific success.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to cope with an empty nest when your children leave home. If you’re not ready to stop parenting then this is a great opportunity to foster or you might finally start thinking about your own goals and aspirations instead.
ChrissyJ xxx
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I have got used to my children leaving home and returning with even more stuff. I now have grandchildren so I have not got an empty nest.
My children leaving home is a long way off, but I love the idea of travelling lots abroad as a couple when have an empty nest.