It's not too late. At the same time that you're doing all those last minute preparations for your child's departure - laundry lessons! rudimentary cooking skills! no, credit cards are not free money! - take some time to prepare yourself for empty nest syndrome.
- Revel in senior year: Enjoy all the "lasts" of senior year: the last water polo game, the last concert and prom.
- Widen your horizons: Don't wait for the nest to empty. Start finding new hobbies and reconnecting with old friends now. "Start expanding your life before the last one leaves, not after," says Carin Rubenstein, author of Beyond the Mommy Years. "Show your lastborn that you have your own life, one that does not require his or her presence to be fulfilling, exciting and entertaining."
- Loosen the bonds: Start giving your child more independence now, says Rubenstein. Loosen curfews and give her more responsibilities and freedoms, so she can practice making good choices - and so you don't worry as much about her living independently.
- And romance your spouse: Too many couples get so swept up in the frantic pace of work, home and child rearing, they forget to nurture their marriage, says family therapist Catherine Freemire. "Then the kids leave and they look at each other and boom. Don’t wait until the empty nest is there to take the steps to reclaim and renew the good things in the relationship," the Walnut Creek, CA psychologist says. "Don’t think, ‘It’s only a few years with the kids.’ The marriage can’t wait. It is the foundation of the family. It needs to be nurtured all along."
