Nest Half Full

This is a series I wrote for the Write 31 Days Challenge in 2015. There are 31 links to posts around the topic of a growing family and what feels like a shrinking role as a full-time mom.

Fall is here, time to get back to routine after the free-for-all days of summer. To get back into blogging,

I’ve been busy the past few weeks, with kids and company coming and going, and I realized that even though I am getting closer to having an “empty nest” as children graduate from high school and move on to college and life on their own, my nest is rarely empty. It’s more like a half-full nest.

There are kids coming home for events like birthdays and holidays, or just to make cookies or pick apples for canning applesauce. There are projects that need a mom’s help, like buying and assembling a new bed from IKEA, and there are days that someone phones in for some home time and encouragement. Since our home often has free bed space, there’s also been a steady stream of people who need a place to stay coming through and keeping the nest from getting too quiet or dusty.

I have been approaching this season of life warily, afraid that I might be too lonely, certain that I would need to find something big and meaningful to fill my life when my mothering career winds down. Now that I can see this new stage of life just up ahead, I’m thinking maybe I’m not entering retirement just yet.

There still seems to be some mothering to do.

Day 1: Signs of Life

Day 2: A Gift

Day 3: Game Day

Day 4: I Sit and Think

Day 5: You Can Always Come Home

Day 6: Will I Ever Get My Laundry Done?

Day 7: Mother Worry

Day 8: Beck and Call

Day 9: Two Terrible Words

Day 10: The-Not-So Organized Mom

Day 11: Class Time