Empty Nest Syndrome! Need help fast!???

Hi...well, I'm NOT looking forward to being where you are...I've spent the last 9 years as a single mom! My youngest is 17, but good news is 21 year old daughter is moving home, but just for a year, til her husband gets back from second deployment in Iraq (he's US Navy) and they settle in their own house here.

I started watching English football here (soccer), so I now have a pub I go to and watch it with the guys (I'm the only woman who is interested!) on those rare evenings I find myself alone. I know people can tell you about hobbies, and crafts, gardening, etc., but what about volunteering at say, the local hospice center, or the hospital, or even your local elementary school? These types of organizations always need help, and the benefits of helping are their own rewards! Or you can do what I love to do when I have free time for myself...and that's go exploring... I don't know where you live, but I am in Jacksonville, Florida, and there are so many places around here to see and enjoy, like St. Augustine, or the zoo, or just traveling down the Intracoastal Waterway highway for a change of scenery. I also love going downtown to the city's center and just window shopping, stopping for a bit of lunch, and a cup of coffee at an outdoor cafe. I also have a list of junk/antique stores in the area, and try to visit one after the other on days when my time is free and home chores are done (and the girls are gone).

Anyway...I've got a very adventuresome spirit...and I'm sure you do too, considering you're a novelist. Oh how I envy you...I've written stories all my life, and been published on the web, but I've yet to sit down and do what I love doing, writing just to complete a project! Good luck...and most of all, HAVE FUN DOING IT! :)

The first thing you need to do is recognize yourself as a human being.....not just a Mom, wife, etc. You have to value yourself, and learn that there is life after the kids are gone. You MUST get out. Talk to others, join a group, like sewing, knitting, cooking, educational, whatever........but you MUST get out of the house! Good Luck

Try getting out and doing some volunteer work...either at a zoo, habitat for humanity...any cause that you are for. This will help fill up any free time you have, and you'll be something productive with it.

Best of luck to you in life.

maybe you should get a part time job or go volunteer at a hospital. just a thought. I was in your position at one point, but, they seem to keep coming back.