Report from the Empty Nest

A Couple times every week someone asks me the question, “So, how’s the empty nest?” We have been empty-nesters for a month now, and I can honestly say, “It’s wonderful!” I miss our girls, but the truth is, we prepared them to leave home, as we also prepared ourselves. We did that by staying in love and spending time together while they were growing up.

Our youngest is enjoying college life and is facing its challenges by trusting the Lord – not Mom and Dad. What a blessing! She’s had a bout or two of mild homesickness, but has pulled through with the Lord’s help. We talk to her via phone call or text usually once a day, sometimes every other day, depending on both our schedules.

As for us nesters, we are enjoying the freedom to come and go, the flexibility of our schedule, and our time together. We’ve found that we still have to plan for a date night just as when our daughters were home. It would be very easy to stay busy from morning to night and not take time to be together. So, to protect our time, we’ve planned things on the calendar. Octobers’ Mondays have some short little day trips planned. We’re going to Dollywood one week and the Blueridge Parkway another. Other weeks will find us doing inexpensive dates near home.

Yesterday was the first really chilly fall day we’ve had. I suggested we have a movie date night on the deck, since we didn’t have a date on Monday due to church activities. At about 8:00 pm we plugged the laptop into the outside outlet and set it on a small table in front of our glider/swing. I popped some popcorn, gathered some warm blankets and we headed outside for a “swing-in movie” (as opposed to a drive-in!). We watched one of my favorites and laughed, munched our snack and sipped hot chocolate. It was just fun being outside on a chilly night and snuggling together to watch a movie.

Father of the Bride…so funny.
The empty-nesters…

You don’t have to be an empty-nester to have a fun date night like ours! You just have to be more creative with your time! While your children are in your home you must resolve to spend time nurturing your marriage relationship, so when they are gone you won’t be looking across the table at a stranger!

How are we doing with the empty nest? Just fine, thank you. =)

What do you do for an inexpensive date night?