Happy Empty Nesters?

Yesterday was such a lovely day.  Both DH and I had tons of work to do.  Usually, we go our separate ways to do our work.  He goes upstairs to his work area and I go downstairs but yesterday, we decided to sit together to do our work separately.  It made for a lovely day of us throwing ideas off each other, laughing, talking, working.  It was just lovely.

When we were done (mostly) we went to the store to buy canvases for our own little ‘paint and sip’ date night at home.  We cooked a quick dinner together and ate, not in front of the TV but also not at the table.  We sat together in the living room looking out our beautiful picture window and enjoyed our meal.  DH commented on the fact that we never eat in there.  It was nice.

Then we got down to business!  We had so much fun painting.  We didn’t try to make it perfect, we just had fun.  We turned on some quiet music and just experienced the moment together.

Afterward, while we were cleaning up to go watch a movie together, DH pulled me into a hug and asked, “Are we happy empty nesters?”  It made me laugh.  “Yes,” I replied, “I think we are.”

It’s not always easy, this empty nest thing.  We miss our kids and we get on each other’s nerves but yes, I think we are happy.  We are happily getting reacquainted, happily getting to know one another again.

We were sitting at the kitchen table the other evening chatting over dinner and I was surprised.  See, we worried A LOT about what we would talk about when the kids weren’t the focal point of our existence anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, they still are and we talk about them a lot but this particular evening, we just visited about us – our thoughts, our feelings, politics, religion, movies… We just talked and it was nice.  Nice to know we still had things to talk about together.  Nice to know we are still a couple.

So, yes, I think we are happy empty nesters and I don’t even feel guilty about it. ❤️