What's an empty nest?

I became pregnant with C when Z was 13, A was 11 and K was 8, so the question I repeatedly heard was, "Surprise?"

Naturally, 5 years later when Z graduated from High School and C is entering into Kindergarten, the question all Summer has been, "How will you handle your empty nest?"

I didn't know the answer because I couldn't imagine the situation.

It was pretty emotional at Open House when C looked too tiny sitting behind her large desk while her brother and sisters gathered around her for pictures.  That emotion hit me again when I looked across the room to see Z patiently explaining how she'll hang her things in her locker while she looked up at him and hung on his every word.  And again today when all 3 girls posed wearing their backpacks in the driveway before school.

Wednesday was the 1st day for everyone except the Kindergarteners and since A is doing the Post Secondary Classes (part time High School / part time College), she gets out of High School at 11am.  So Wednesday afternoon, the kick-off to my empty nest, I had 3 of our 4 children home and 2 of them were fighting.  Same thing yesterday.

What is this "empty nest" you speak of?!?

Today is C's big day.  The parents were invited to bring their child to their classroom to "say goodbye" and then stop and have some coffee and a cry if needed in the Butterfly Cafe, named for the pictures of the butterflies the kids colored during the orientation meeting on Wednesday.  A very sweet sentiment, but why in the he** would I do that to myself?!?  I don't need to cry!  I want to cry, but why give in to that?  I will not choose to focus on the part of me that's sad instead of the part of me that just watched my glowing-with-excitement 5 year old skip out the front door with a cheerful goodbye and a promise to tell me everything that happens today!  This day is about her, not me.

It's 9am.  Z is at work, the girls are at school and I've never heard the house this quiet.  So this is what an empty nest is like.  I drank my coffee and did my Beth Moore workbook in complete silence.  The house is clean and I haven't had to break up any fights.  This empty nest thing might not be such a bad thing.

But the reality is, this empty nest is quite temporary.  God in all of his infinite mercy allowed me a full day of massage clients to keep me busy.  A will be rolling back in here at 11am, the men of the family will be home by 3 and our younger girls will climb off the bus at 3:45.  Today, my nest is hoppin with activity, which makes this new transition much easier to handle.

That, and at Open House I spoke with the teacher and volunteered to spend this newly acquired spare time of mine in C's class..."We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I'm going to be the room mother."