The nest has been officially empty for just a little over two weeks now. Though my children came home from college for the Labor Day weekend, their presence here definitely felt more like a visit than a homecoming—it was clearly a special occasion, not life as it ought to be. We did all the usual things we’ve done as a family over the years, the things that helped to keep us operating as a team, and still we were each ready to get back to what we now think of as our regular lives by the time Monday rolled around.
Perhaps this means I’m getting used to living in a quiet house. Or perhaps it means that my perspective on the nest has changed. A few things I’ve noticed in these last two weeks:
The scissors and tape stay in the drawer where they belong.
There’s always plenty of hot water whenever I want to take a shower.
There’s no hair in the shower drain waiting to greet me.
One of the two bathrooms in our house stays spotlessly clean.
The doorknobs and countertops are never sticky or covered with crumbs.
There are no empty glasses or dirty dishes or package wrappers left on the end tables or in the bedrooms.
The kitchen garbage can is never stuffed to overflowing.
I don’t have to wonder how many people will be here for dinner, or avoid certain spices or ingredients.
This empty nest, as it turns out, is a pretty wonderful place to live. And while it’s certainly more lively when my children are around, there is much to be said for a home designed for two.
After our children were born, Mike and I wondered what we had ever done with all the time we must have had on our hands. Now we’re starting to remember. That was a pretty wonderful life–a different life, to be sure, but wonderful still.
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