It’s a strange feeling having an empty nest.
If you’re keeping score at home, no, Hiedi and I are not officially empty-nesters. But we’ve been getting an extended trial run of that lifestyle lately. With 1 kid off to college and 2 other busy high-schoolers, we often find ourselves in a quiet house.
Whelp, I guess it’s just us tonight! No parental obligations. The entertainment possibilities seem endless! We could go out to eat, hit the movies, or go dancing. We could meet some friends for a night on the town. It seems like an appropriate way to spend our new and unfamiliar free time. However, that plan requires:
- Acquiring friends
- Leaving the house
Ugh, that sounds complicated. Ultimately, we choose none of the above. We end up sitting on the couch in our jogging pants, covered in cat hair. We question who is going to eat all the leftovers from supper. We browse our phones with our progressive lens glasses tilted just right so we can read the text. With the subtle white noise of House Hunters International playing in the background, we doze in and out of consciousness until 8:30 PM – the earliest bedtime legally allowed for adults.
It seems we’ve adopted similar habits and lifestyles as old people! Isn’t that hilarious yet purely coincidental?!
Aliyah is a freshman at Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. She is enjoying her first year in the Architecture program, although she’s been mostly exposed to generic Design School disciplines thus far (drawing, design theory, etc.) Aliyah quickly formed a close bond with her dorm “house” mates. They do everything together like going on 7 mile walks through campus and playing a game called Crumpets. I don’t totally understand Crumpets, but I gather it’s a combination of several field sports played by college students who don’t go to college football games. Aliyah is enjoying Cyclone life so much that she will be staying in Ames next summer as a campus tour guide/student ambassador. I’m afraid we’ve lost her to the real world already. I hope she still remembers our names when we see her again. We have only bought shredded cheese once since Aliyah left for college. That might seem like an insignificant fact. But I assure you, it is a stark contrast to our previous cheese-buying reality, and an oddly poignant reminder that our baby isn’t at home anymore.
Mathematically, Aliyah’s abesense leaves our environment ⅓ less noisy and chaotic than before. Aliyah isn’t particularly noisy or chaotic but we definitely notice she’s not around. But many nights, it seems like Annabelle and Brooks already went off to college too.
Annabelle is a Junior at Lincoln High School. She does all things band (flute), piano, chorus, and wishing her Dad got her tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert. In my defense, those tickets were very expensive and all our extra money is apparently going to the state of Iowa for the next several years. Annabelle works as a Starbucks barista a couple days a week. She has many obligations requiring her time. But her first priority is academics. Her rigorous coursework demands hours of homework and study time. The time spent doing the work is often inflated by texting and talking with her friends during her homework sessions. Despite her seemingly inefficient study method, it apparently is working well. We will be touring colleges this summer. While we hope Annabelle enjoys college life, we hope she doesn’t enjoy it quite as much as her sister so Annabelle will be encouraged to come home ONCE IN A WHILE. But she will be an adult who can make her own decisions on what’s right for her. We don’t intend to persuade her or make her feel guilty for not loving her parents, I mean not coming home as frequently as they would like. Annabelle is into fashion, Broadway soundtracks, and making gourmet meals for herself.
Brooks is a Freshman at Lincoln High School. He enjoys not spending time with his family by going to Cross Country practice, the gym, and hanging out with friends. His new very favorite obsession is golf. In typical Brooks-dives-headfirst-into-a-new-obssession fashion, he decided this summer that golf was the best activity ever invented. He played countless rounds at Prairie Green – a few miles from our house. One fateful day, his ride to the golf course fell through. Hiedi and I were out and about and expected to find a disappointed Brooks when we got home. Instead we discovered his golf clubs AND his bike were missing out of the garage. Hey, a tee time is a serious obligation and a golfer’s gotta do what a golfer’s gotta do. Brooks and I played several rounds together this summer. His wicked slice (ball goes way to the right) and my duck hook (ball goes way to the left) don’t make for very convenient cart-mates. We’ll both work on meeting closer to the middle next summer. Brooks has developed a taste in fine eau de parfums because it’s important for a 15 year old to smell like subtle hints of leather and juniper berries.
Hiedi is in her 2nd year of teaching 2nd grade at Sioux Falls Lutheran (6th year overall at SFL.) The school continues to grow and expand each year. It’s chaotic and rewarding at the same time. After a cortisone shot in her knee, Hiedi has enjoyed running, walking, working out, biking, walking some more, and ensuring that her watch “activity goal” is met. I’m not sure the watch manufacturer intended for a daily goal that high.
I’m still working at POET. I spend my free time playing basketball, running, golfing and writing weird stuff like this Christmas letter. I also enjoy standing in my yard, thinking about my next landscape or garden project. My favorite activity is to guess which of this week’s injuries I’m going to notice the most. Is it my chronic shin splints? Rotator cuff tear? Ankle? Ow, my back hurts! That’s a new one. How exciting!
We enjoyed a couple trips last year. We went to Florida over last Christmas break. It was the biggest adventure our family has ever gone on (or at least the farthest away.) We went to Disney World and waited in various lines. We saw the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico and swam in our AirBNB pool, despite the coldest December weather the area had seen in years. We were hoping to go on another big adventure this Christmas, but figured it wouldn’t be a responsible choice given our new and upcoming financial obligations. I mean, those Taylor Swift concert tickets aren’t going to buy themselves! This past summer we went to Wisconsin Dells, the self-proclaimed “Waterpark Capital of the World.”. I discovered that water sliding is a young man’s game. I did, however, enjoy the lazy river and complaining about how much the food cost at the concession stands.
Yep, traveling to Florida over winter, 8:30 bedtimes, kids going to college. This is the life of an empty nester. It feels just like retirement! Except for the fact we need to work full time because my 401k appears to still be in its infancy. True empty nest living is still a few years away. But we’re preparing now.
Scott, Hiedi, Aliyah, Annabelle, Brooks
Maizy and Zoyla (dogs)
Tino and Trixie (cats)