Newly updated, The Empty Nest is an uplifting, practical and inspiring guide to adjusting to life after your children leave home. More than half a million parents confront the empty nest for the first time each year. It is one of the most challenging phases of parenting, often creating feelings of loss, lack of purpose and crisis of identity which can lead to depression. Yet it receives little recognition. And contrary to popular opinion it doesn't only affect women who've put their careers on hold: working mothers and fathers suffer too. Equally, it can be a period of liberation and discovery of new challenges, when marriages long overstressed by childcare can be rejuvenated. The Empty Nest includes case studies documenting a wide range of experiences of parents living through an empty nest; expert comment and advice; plenty of practical ideas, inspiration and tips. This encouraging, empowering books helps you to focus on the positive as well as how to handle the changing relationship with your children to ensure a fulfilling and good relationship going forward, an area of parenting often ignored.

"Kat remembers the days when her only daughter Amy wouldn't leave her side. Amy was the baby who cried when you walked out of the room, the toddler who was too shy to speak to strangers, the small child who clung to Kat's legs in the school playground.But now Amy is grown up, and Amy is gone - to university in a town several hours away. Kat's house - which once felt too full, too noisy, too busy - is deathly quiet, and Kat awaits the daily phone call to tell her that her beloved daughter is thriving and happy. But one day Amy doesn’t call. Kat’s husband and friends think she is being paranoid - surely Amy is just out, having fun with her friends. But Kat knows right away that something is very wrong. Her daughter would never forget to call. She would never just disappear... After all, Amy has nothing to run from. Or does she?"--Publisher description.

Discover New Passion and Purpose after the Kids Leave Home Many women approaching their empty-nest years do so with mixed emotions--feeling grief for what is no more but also excitement for what lies ahead. Barbara Rainey and Susan Yates are seasoned empty nesters, and they know firsthand the ups and downs, the uncertainty and challenges that accompany this new stage of life. Although Mom is a lifelong role, the job description changes significantly when the kids are grown. Questions abound: Who am I now? How do I relate to my kids? How will my marriage be affected? Where am I needed? Every woman in this stage needs to determine her own redefined role as wife, mother, friend, and more. Offering practical advice and biblical guidance, along with inspiring personal stories of women who have discovered how to live a meaningful life during the "second half," Barbara and Susan help you work out how to flourish and thrive in your own empty nests.

How to Thrive After Your Kids Leave Home IT’S HAPPENING! You weren’t always sure you’d get here, but the kids grew up and are surviving—more or less successfully. But what now?! If you’re like most moms, you’re caught between grief and delight, and full of questions, loose ends, hopes, and regrets. Empty nesting can be a disorienting time, but it can also be the best time of your life. Jill Savage, an empty-nest veteran, offers you WISDOM for the murky waters ahead. Teaching you what you need to let go of and hold on to ENCOURAGEMENT for when you’re feeling confused and discouraged. Full of stories and new insights, you’ll find your spirits lifted and hope renewed. IDEAS for when you don’t know "What’s next?" Jill offers loads of practical ideas for coping and thriving in this encore season.

When the kids are gone, you can discover a richer, deeper, and more fulfilling life than you ever imagined! Whether you've been looking forward to it or dreading it, the experience of coming home to an empty nest brings with it a well of emotions, realizations, and one gigantic, all-consuming thought: Now what? In Finding Joy in the Empty Nest, Jim Burns combines his personal experiences with his expertise as a family educator to help you navigate your new life as an empty nester and find joy in this new season of life. Rather than offering shallow suggestions of hobbies you should take up, Burns encourages you to actively pursue a fresh start, reinvent yourself, and thrive. Backed by extensive research and filled with interviews with fellow empty nesters, this book equips you with practical advice and timeless principles, teaching you how to: Change the relationship you once had with your children for the better Face big issues--including aging parents, finances, and kids returning home--with confidence Rekindle your fire and purpose to live with passion day by day Amid Burns' wealth of know-how, you'll uncover what may be the most important takeaway of all: the best is yet to come. Praise for Finding Joy in the Empty Nest: "Jim Burns is smart, witty, grounded, and immeasurably practical. Whether you're getting close to the second half of marriage or are in the thick of it, you won't want to miss out on this fantastic book." --Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, bestselling authors of Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts

Beginning with the senior year in high school, moving through the summer year after graduation, the final departure for college and the freshman year, Andre Van Steenhouse offers a lighthearted, yet savy look at this turbulent time through her generous and compassionate world view, making it lively, humorous, and emotionally resonant. She has interviewed hundreds of families making this difficult passage and includes their stories while providing her trademark sensitivity for handling each stage of the journey.

Live your best life—even after your kids leave home When her children left for college, Melissa Shultz was certain that she had prepared them well for their new lives-but her own life was a different matter entirely. Her house was empty, her purpose unclear. If her life was no longer dominated by the day-to-day demands of being "Mom," then who exactly was she? And how would she ever move forward? From Mom to Me Again is the story of one woman's reinvention. Shultz's struggle with the empty nest and the transformation of her marriage, friendships, career, and ultimately herself, is part memoir and part self-help guide. Funny, poignant, and practical, this book tells Shultz's personal story and provides valuable advice for readers preparing to send their children off into the world. She shows women that while they'll always be mothers, it's time for them to take center stage in their own lives once again.