Despite some back and forth crazy scheduling this week, for all intents and purposes, my “Empty Nest” starts now. With one daughter abroad for the summer and one at camp, we’ll have about two and a half weeks of them home before they leave for college.
While one or both of them were home, my schedule and my activities revolved around them. Even when they were old enough to pretty much come and go as they pleased, there were meals to plan, cars to make available and just bodies to be aware of—and hopefully talk to. But now that they are essentially on their own for long stretches of time, it’s back to just my husband and I.
I haven’t been in this position since I was twenty-eight years old. And technically, I haven’t planned out my life since I was eighteen with a million possibilities before me. At that time, it was exciting and scary. Now, well, it’s kind of the same. Sure, I’m married and have a career that I dedicate myself to, but I also have extra time to focus on me.
Just me.
And for the first time, I don’t have to feel guilty about that self-focus. I’m not bound by school-time or kid-time. I don’t have to think about what I need to be doing for everyone else rather than myself. I don’t have to divide myself into a million different pieces.
That division has helped to destroy my focus. Multi-tasking is an art, but only when it’s used for benefit, not when even the simplest of tasks takes forever because I stop mid-stride to do something else. Boundaries can be set and stuck to. Plans can be made in non-erasable pen. And distractions can be kept to a minimum.
So for the first time in years, I’m going to set a schedule for myself. I’m going to plan the next stage of my life. And I’m going to include self-care.
Time to start a new chapter.
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