Be a bird launcher

Be a bird launcher! It has been a big change at our house, adjusting to life without your children at home. As you know my son has flown the nest. He has moved into the dorm and my husband, and I found ourselves as empty nesters.

Be a Bird Launcher:

That didn’t really resonate with me because I don’t feel empty at all. So, I started thinking about it and I read somewhere that instead of calling yourself an empty nester, to consider being a bird launcher and that is exactly what we are!

I am still actively involved in my son’s life. He is a college freshman athlete, playing soccer so I am still a soccer mom. I am at every game and cheering him on as his biggest fan. He still needs me, maybe even a little more now. Balancing college, sports and life for a freshman is tough. He needs my support. I have never missed a college game, I meet him on a random Tuesday for dinner when a practice ends early, when he can’t come home for weeks on end due to practice and games, we meet him on Sunday for breakfast or dinner to fit around his schedule.

It is my job as a mother to raise my children so that they can fly the nest and survive. So, it makes me happy to know that he is capable of adulting. He has been doing his own laundry, took himself to urgent care when he got sick and picks up his own health and personal care items and groceries at the store when he needs them.

Is he on his own? No, absolutely not. He still needs my support and love. However, as he starts to fly the nest, I am here to cheer him on. Not to make him feel guilty, to cry or wish things were the way they used to be when he lived here or to sit and wallow in the empty nest. Instead, I am so happy for him, I am here to give advice when he asks for it (and he has), and I am happy to meet him ANY day of the week when he asks to see me, I am available.

For spring break, I asked him what he wanted to do. I offered a trip to Florida, and he said, my only request is that I can sleep in my own bed every night of spring break and take a shower in my own bathroom, and you cook dinners. Wow! I have never been happier. We spent the week doing a lot of nothing. We watched movies, hung out, went shopping, attended a concert and I cooked all of his favorite meals.

If you find yourself entering the next chapter and when people ask you how you are handling empty nest life, the answer for me is, I am not an empty nester, I am a bird launcher. It really is all about perspective!