One of the scariest thing for parents is the empty nest. To many parents, especially stay at home moms it is a devastating thing in life. So how do you deal with an empty nest.

• First, its okay to sit down and cry. You are human and emotion is okay and you should express this sadness. You spent a major portion of your life raising your child. But try to keep your child from seeing too much of this emotion. A few tears are okay but you don’t want them to feel guilt about leaving home, chances are they are already feeling scared and trepidations.
• Now time will start to pass and you will notice little things like an empty chair at the dinner table or in front of the TV. When these little moments hit you remember that your child is maturing into an adult and that you should be proud of them, after all this is what you raised them to do. Remind yourself that you raised your child to be an ethical, moral and responsible adult.
• Stay busy! When you have a lot to do you wont miss your child as much. Spend more time with friends and family. Plan dinner parties or go out for drinks with friends. Getting a part time job or starting new home projects is a great way to keep busy. Now you can probably start on all those passions you put aside to raise your child.
• Now when your child comes to visit enjoy the time. The hard part is letting them leave again. As time goes on it will be easier to see them come and go. Don’t mention that you are sad when they leave cause again you don’t want them to feel any guilt for growing up. When they feel good about coming home they will probably come home more often and enjoy having you take care of them some (laundry time!).