Settling In, my Empty Nester life

mavisandflo
Nov 26
5 min read

Updated: Nov 26

Hello, how are you?

Me? I am good.

We have turned a corner this past two weeks.

The dog has settled (finally) so I feel that I can now leave her to go to the post office or duck out to the shops. The relief! I'm sure this feeling is what it was like when my kids were toddlers and I would leave them at preschool. I would spend the day at work, guilty and stressed, my thoughts on them the entire time. Only come to pick up time and finding my child happily playing, not ready to leave yet as they are having such a fabulous day.

Remember those days?

Now when I get home from my errands the dog looks up at me, wags her tail and continues to happily eat her bone. Obviously having a fabulous time without me.

Why do I continue to stress about everything? And why do I continue to rush everywhere???

I have conquered another of my fears last week. I have gone swimming on my own. Back at my old home I would make the 35 minute drive to swim at the beach baths. (Gosh, I love beach baths) I would do this on my own easily and happily. You see Beach pools are great because 1; there is limited chance of a shark being in the actual water, 2; There is always people swimming and 3; There is (most times) a life guard. And it feels like you are swimming in the ocean, I guess, because you are; you just have cement walls around you.

At our new home, unfortunately there is no ocean baths. But there is a beautiful big bay of water that is just a 5 minute drive down the road. Bay swimming is great when my husband is with me. However on my own I have to worry about sharks or jelly blubbers in the water; sometimes there is no one else swimming, and there are always no life guards.

Quite a lot for me to worry/stress/process. But there are so many positives, for example it is sooooo beautiful. And I can swim a good distance across the bay, I feel like I am having a good work out. A swim puts me in a great mood and keeps me refreshed for the entire day. It was also always on my bucket list of living a good life; swimming in the ocean as often as possible. So last week I faced my fear and I did it! I was so proud of myself. Its such a good feeling to face up to my fears instead of giving in to them. I refuse to do that anymore. However I do still look out for sharks and jelly blubbers.

Last week was all about the market...creating, making, organising and of course this ended in a migraine. I kept pushing and ignoring my body despite it's protest and as a result... well I'm sure you know the result. But thinking positively,although the market was quiet I now do have LOTS of kits and makes ready for sending. If you pop over the my Etsy shop there are kits and patterns on sale. Or if your in need for a gift, my little granny square bags have been very popular. I am now able to customise these bags. I can write a little note and sew the note to the inside of the bag. These have been great for teacher gifts and I have also made one for my bestie. Just a little note to make her laugh when she opens the bag.

https://mavisandflo.etsy.com

I wonder if I will ever get used to being an empty Nester?

I am getting used to being on my own (mostly) in this new home.

I no longer have that heart ache I had at the beginning of the Empty Nester transition period. What I do love is when my son and his girlfriend come and stay on the weekends. To have them under the same roof, makes my heart full and happy. It's a good feeling.

I particularly enjoy cooking for four of us again, as I'm gradually getting used to cooking with the new oven and stove top. When we first become Empty Nesters' I found cooking really difficult. I just made meals as usual without even thinking about it. The result; too much food! I refuse to waste any food, so some meals I made we would be eating them for a few days in a row. Ever so slowly (remember I did say that I was a slow learner) I have gotten used to cooking smaller meals, which in effect has changed the way that I meal plan and grocery shop.

The price of food now is expensive, I do not know how big families do it. Actually I think that all family types would find the grocery bill a concern and struggle. I have been thinking about when I was growing up and my mum was able to have a healthy meal on the table for my sister and I every night. Sometimes that did include spaghetti on toast, or chips cooked in the deep fryer (yum my favourite)!

I remember watching the news with my mum one night, I must of been about 11 or 12 and the reporter was talking about the poverty line and the then prime minister Bob Hawke (now famously) declaring "By 1990,there will be no Australian child living in poverty." I asked mum what the poverty line was. She explained. I was horrified and said "Oh, those poor children" To which she replied "Lovey, that is you, that is us, we live under the poverty line" I was shocked. Until that moment I had no idea that we were poor.

So with all this thinking about food,I thought I would start to share some of the recipes and meal plan ideas that I have been using to help us avoid eating the same meal four times in a row. I am definitely not a good cook. But having more time, no longer needing to race around, has lead me to think about food and how I can be making meals now that better reflect this next chapter in our life. Maybe I should introduce spaghetti on toast for a meal. And perhaps purchase a air fryer to make some hot chips :))