My Empty Nest

It's not always empty.

by Madora Kibbe

Carl Jung and Robert Heinlein Starring as Dr. Spock!

It’s that time of the year again – some might say it’s the most wonderful time of the year – when the kids are going off to college for the first time, or returning to school. Some houses will be quieter than they’ve been in many years. Still it’s better to be glad than sad, so here are a few wise and funny thoughts about child rearing and those people we call parents. Read More

A Canterbury Tale

"When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root" it's time to take a train ride to Chaucer town. Read More

What are we waiting for?

Recently I got to thinking about what I've learned during this first year of having no kids at home (on a regular basis that is) and how if they are no longer the center of my life, then who is? Now wait...... Read More

Lying

This is a flashback to 2004. It's a week before my daughter's 13th birthday, and she's suddenly decided that she doesn't want to grow up. This is what she tells me, this is what she says. I call that poor timing at its best. What's a mother to do? I'll tell you. Read More

I'm trying not to read too much into this

This posting is meant to be humorous, but all kidding aside, doesn't it sometimes seem like the most innocuous things conspire to keep us from doing our work or dare I say it fulfilling our destiny? Don't ask me, ask my oven. Read More

The Walker and the Waiter

Have you ever noticed the disconnect between how we see ourselves and how others see us? Have you ever wondered why that is? Maybe it's because we are each the hero of our own story, but only a minor character in the plot line some one else's life. Recently I got a glimpse of how I look to a 12 year old boy. And wow let me tell you that was weird. But also instructional. I got to take a look at myself in the mirror of Luke. Read More

Guilty Pleasures, Pure Pleasure

This is not going to be one of those nudge-nudge, wink-wink articles that talks about all the naughty things a couple can do once the kids move out. I'm saving that for Valentine's Day. No, this is a posting about how once you have an empty nest you can start to think about all or at least some of the things that make you happy. And some of them are dumb and some of them are silly. Read More

Elegy for a not so Dearly Departed Dog

There's an old joke that goes, life begins when the kids move out and the dog dies. Read More

Home Base for the Holidays

And they're back! First semester is over, Christmas is almost here, and I'm writing an essay...... Read More

The Empty Nest Workout Part One

No, this is NOT an essay about Tiger Woods, though, true, he may soon find himself with his own version of an empty nest. But who knows? The advice given here might actually help him, and anyone else who find themselves feeling a bit out of control. Read More

There will be Tears

It's going to happen. Maybe not right away, but most likely after the first visit. When you know they are actually doing just fine, on their own, without you. Which is what you've been hoping/working/praying for all along. But then it hits you. Childhood is over. Thank you very much. And then you cry. You cry because you miss them. You cry out of relief. You cry because you're happy. Read More

Afresh

It's one thing to redo your empty nest; it's another to move out while the nest is still full. Read More

Time for Dinner

After many years the conversation continues. Read More

Making Reparations

Some things are meant to be kept, some are meant to be tossed. But occasionally reparations can be made. Read More

Baby Goes to College

Going to college is easy, staying behind is hard, not just for parents. And sometimes going to college isn't so easy. But in the words of Bob Marley, "in this great future, you can't forget your past. So dry your tears I say." Read More

Women and the Dogs Who Walk Them

I've been trying to kick a 20-year habit of being on someone else's schedule. Our dogs have been my methadone. They cannot feed themselves and we don't live on a farm so they don't run wild and free. But I find them to be far more flexible than my former charges -- our children. Dogs will pretty much eat whatever and whenever you feed them. Read More