Empty Nester Quotes

Hello, my darling,” she said, rubbing deep behind his ears. They’d become those clichéd empty nesters who turned desperately to the Labrador the second the last kid shipped off to college.

We bear financial responsibilities that men had in the old days while still saddled with traditional caregiving duties. We generally incur this double whammy precisely while hitting peak stress in both our careers and child-raising--in our forties, at an age when most of our mothers and grandmothers were already empty nesters.

Parenting is a sacred responsibility with the sobering reality, of raising scholars or scars.

Now that Olive was grown, I didn't know what to do with myself. You could build your life around one single thing, like a view or a child, but that was risky. You had so much to lose.

I experience every day the truth of what you once told me, that there are certain thoughts which are not to be dwelt upon, but passed over as lightly as possible, unless we would be forever in tears: that is my case: for there is not a place in the house which does not give a stab to my heart when I see it: but your room especially deals a deadly blow from every part of it.

It’s a hard thing,” he says. “To admit you have failed your child. You know, so many of my friends nowadays are empty-nesters, and they say that the day you realize your kids don’t need you anymore is like a punch to the gut. And I never say it, but I always think to myself that knowing your kid doesn’t need you may hurt, but knowing your kid did, and you weren’t there . . . it’s absolutely unbearable.

looked

We thought it was the start of a peaceful life together. We thought we were empty-nesters. That we were going to be able to spend the weekends naked and having a bit of rumpy pumpy on the dining table.

But 5 percent of what I do, only I can do! This the most important 5 percent for me. I can’t delegate these initiatives to anyone else. I can’t hire someone else to take my place in any of these activities because they require that I be there! This 5 percent will determine the validity of the other 95 percent. This is what I had to discover and make as the epicenter of my life. My 5 percent may differ from yours, but the principle is transferrable to everyone—married, single, widowed, old, or young. It is true for those with children, empty nesters, or young couples just starting out in life.

The next message was from my mom. “What in the hell do I have to do to get my children to call me?” She was missing Chucky. I yelled from my bedroom, “Chuck, did you call Mom back?” He came and stood in the doorway of my room. Through a yawn, he said, “Yeah, she’s having empty-nester pains.” “That’s pathetic. I figured it was more about you than me.” “Your boy had a shitty game.” “I heard,” I said. “Are you working tomorrow?” “No, I don’t work on Sundays. It’s a holy day.” Chucky choked on his Kombucha. “You are the poster child of goodness and virtue.” I was brushing out my hair and inspecting the balayage I had done on it the day before. “I thought you were gonna start being nicer to your landlord?” I said. “Your hair looks good, Charlotte. Seriously. You kind of look like Lily Aldridge now.” “Who’s that?” “Some famous chick.” When Chucky left the room, I immediately Googled Lily Aldridge. She was a model and married to a rock star. I walked over to Chucky’s room, where I found him dozing off in bed. I walked right up to him and smacked him in the head. “What are you doing?” he shouted. “You can’t call me Fatbutt and then say I look like freakin’ Lily Aldridge.” “Okay,” he whined. “I take it back. You look like you ate Lily Aldridge.” “Fuck you, Chucky.” As I walked back to my room he called out, “Love you, Fatbutt!

My little boy was no more and even though he'd come home for vacations, our relationship would never be quite the same. Just as he would have to learn to be an adult in the world, so would I have to learn to live without him.

But here’s the problem: fewer and fewer folks are willing to do this. I’m constantly railing on my Boundless audience to go out and get a mentor. I think I’ve finally driven it far enough into their skulls. The problem is, they’re coming back to me, saying, “Lisa, we’re trying, but no one’s willing to take us on.” Seriously? Empty nesters, where are you? Retirees, surely you have some time.

You and Dad are really the wrecking ball of all of our teenage runaway fantasies. Why couldn't you jerks go and be crack addicts or religious fanatics so we could have excuses to live on the wide open road? - email from Lily

Clip the wings of love and laughter! They’ll marry you and menage often! But give flight lessons to despair and sadness while they’re young, training them to gain their early independence and leaving you love birds to be empty nesters long before you grow old!

A fleet of restored vintage trolleys ran from the West Village to Downtown. They had adorable names like Rosie, Betty, Petunia, and the Green Dragon. They dinged cheerfully down the green median of a cobblestone path. Griffin took a few shots of Megan and Josh in front of the Green Dragon before we all climbed aboard. As we looped around the neighborhood, I looked out the window and felt the breeze on my face. The West Village was a great cross section of urban Dallas life. Yuppies, families, and empty nesters commingled on the streets. Most days a breeze blew down the corridor, making it bearable, even enjoyable, to sit outside the cafés year-round. A dog-friendly café with an adjoining dog park was down the block, and a parade of pups dripped down the street, tails wagging, sopping wet from doggie pools. A couple on roller skates did tricks for pedestrians before they skated away, hand in hand. It felt vibrant and magical. Homey.

A divorcée empty nester who didn’t regret her solitude? She was a goddamn unicorn of selfishness.

It will if you do the same with your feelings. Kill them and then walk away. As long as you’re in this state of mind, Eli still has power over you. Take it back and be your own person. If you want babies and can’t trust anyone, go to a sperm bank and have babies. If you want to finish your degree and teach little children to fill the void, do it, but shake this off and move on.” Luke went back to sit in the old rusty chair. He’d learned a long time ago to get past the hurdles life threw at him

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

MAY GOD GRANT YOU ALWAYS A SUNBEAM TO WARM YOU A MOONBEAM TO CHARM YOU A SHELTERING ANGEL SO NOTHING CAN HARM YOU LAUGHTER TO CHEER YOU FAITHFUL FRIENDS NEAR YOU AND WHENEVER YOU PRAY HEAVEN TO HEAR YOU.

Life, love, and happiness. Life, one doesn’t have a choice about. Love is negotiable. Happiness—that’s the tough one,