Moving Your Cheese With Ease

The Holidays are over and your college-aged children have returned to school, leaving you again with an empty nest.  The emotional roller coaster we ride as they leave and return can be quite disturbing and should not be dismissed.  We are not simply learning how to “move our cheese” as the popular book, Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, by Spencer Johnson describes; this game is more like “who is playing hot potato with my cheese!”

Here are three easy steps to help smooth out these dramatic transitions:

Soften the edges of the departures and arrivals of your children:

A week  before they leave for school, spend a little less time with your child; plan a date night with your husband and allow them to set their own rules.

Several weeks before their return, let the house get a little messy and turn up the volume when listening to music.  Be spontaneous with your activities and maybe even cancel plans at the last moment.

Enhance you relationship with your spouse and your girl/guy friends while the kids are at school.

Host a theme party and make it an annual event.  Having something to look forward to once the kids leave will ease the emotional trauma that often occurs.  Besides, these people in your life deserve your full attention, too.

Write your Personal Happiness Plan and Implement It.

Set up a plan with realistic goals that create a stable, comfortable lifestyle no matter who’s filling up your nest.

While the “cheese” in your life may be moving as the children come and go, having a plan in place will allow you to play the ‘game’ with gusto!

Beth is the proud Mom of 3, a wife of 2 men named Bill (not at the time, though) and owner of Wrigley, a golden retriever.  She finds humor in many of life’s situations and blogs about them at http://www.emtnester.com.

Twitter name: Emtnester