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Coping with an Empty Nest
When Your Youngest Leaves Home
By Felicia Hodges
"It could prolong the sadness many parents feel if every time they walk down the hall they see their son's football on the shelf or their daughter's stuffed animals lining the bed," he says. "It's almost like the parent can keep pretending that the child is just down the hall doing something or away for a while visiting friends." He says that for children who have moved away for good, it might help if parents convert the child's room to a guest room or sewing room when they're ready.
A couple of years after Nate left for school, Carr turned Nate's room into the family computer room, although most of Nate's things are still in it. The Gambergs completely redecorated Lea's room, turning it into a guest room decorated in Gamberg's favorite colors. "We started it the day after her third anniversary," Gamberg says. "I got tired of just keeping her door closed and only going in to dust the furniture. It was actually very therapeutic."
Now that her son is getting closer to embarking on his career goals, Carr says she still finds herself thinking back to the days when he was living at home.
"I used to think about his graduation and get all teary-eyed," Carr says. "Now I kind of put it aside and think about how much he's grown as a person since then."