How to cope with Empty Nest Syndrome

School is back in session! And for some of you, your kids have left the nest for school. While some parents are already picking out new paint for the new study or craft room, others gaze in their childrens room with a haze of tears and are left with Empty Nest Syndrome.
So here are some ways to cope:

• Plan Ahead: Bidding farewell to your child is a major life transition. Plan for it. This is a time to look ahead to the dreams you’ve delayed, the things you’ve always wanted to try or places you’ve yearned to visit. But at the very least, fill your calendar with work and volunteer obligations, and social engagements with your friends and spouse. Keep busy.

• The Importance of Friends: No one understands what it feels like better than someone who's going through it too, so gather up the folks who get it - friends who are going through or have gone through the same process. Go for coffee, go for a walk, throw an "Empty Nest Party" or whatever... be creative!
  

• Rekindle Romance: Romance can be torn down by years of exhaustion and kid-related obligations. So take the time, long before your kids leave and certainly in the months leading up to their departure, to nurture your marriage. Date your spouse. Reconnect. Take the time to rediscover why you fell in love in the first place.

• Rekindle Friendships: Throw a party, schedule a coffee date, renew old friendships with parents going through the same stage of life.

• Volunteer: You've spent the last decade helping others, and even if you started volunteering because a kindergarten teacher "guilted" you into it, you kept doing it because some part of you loved it. So translate that into another form: volunteer at your local library, museum or food bank; join a town committee; work for Habitat for Humanity; the list and the needs are endless. You'll be helping your community, keeping busy and meeting new people, many of whom are going through the same life transition.

• Nurture Your Extended Family: Parenting young children is an exhausting, exhilarating ride. Now, enjoy the extra time you have to enjoy your own siblings and reach out to extended family. (And if you still have younger children at home, remember that even younger siblings get the empty nest blues.)

• Rediscover Yourself: You’ve juggled work and home for decades. But it's your turn now. Pull out that list - surely you have one, if only in your imagination - and pick something. Salsa dancing? Penguin gazing in Antarctica? A master's degree? It's your turn.