We have been planning our merge with another FamilyLife community, the MomBlog, for several months. The time is here for the transition to take place. Our internet team has been busy making all of the Empty Nest posts and articles available to you on the FamilyLife website. And the MomBlog team has integrated us into their schedule for posting.
Beginning Monday, April 20, when you log on to this Empty Nest Community Page, you will be redirected to the MomBlog page.
You can always access the MomBlog directly by typing www.familylifemomblog.com in to your explorer bar. There you will find posts of interest for Empty Nesters, as well as for moms of all ages and seasons. This will more broadly serve you, as many of you have both children who have left the nest and others still at home. You will find stories of interest on a wider variety of mothering topics.
We hope you will visit the MomBlog frequently to stay in touch with us. Thank you for joining us the past year for this adventure in the Empty Nest Community!
Several of my young friends have three-year-olds. I myself have four grandchildren in or nearly in this age group. All of us agree that the threes have become the “terrible threes.” It used to be the “terrible twos,” but today more moms are being driven crazy by bossy, strong-willed three-year-olds.
Recently I asked a twelve-year veteran teacher of three-year-olds what she thought of our theory and she concurred. Three-year-olds are just plain hard. They have a need to know exactly what they are going to do next. “And then what will we do Mommy?” is a phrase you might hear twenty times in one day. They want a schedule that doesn’t change much—especially the little rituals, particularly at bedtime. If you don’t read in the same position or snuggle a child just right, look out!
And loud noises. Most of them don’t like loud thunder storms or trains that come roaring into the station. Oh, they can make the noises themselves, they just don’t like to hear them!
This past week I spent a few days taking care of two of my grandsons, ages five and three, so their parents could get away alone for a much needed rest. It’s so good to be with our grandkids without their parents. We get their total attention. And of course they behave better when it’s just us!
I also learn a lot when I’m on their territory. I fit into their schedule. I observe their likes and dislikes and I understand what their life is like on a normal, regular day. I also have the opportunity to notice how God has uniquely packaged each child—their different personalities––and this enables me to know how to pray for them more specifically.
One of the main things I’ve always prayed for my children and grandchildren is that they would fall in love with the word of God. If they fall in love with His word, study it and obey it, then they will have the ultimate authority for living. They’ll know where to turn for comfort, for guidance, for wisdom—for all those things they will need in the future. They won’t always have their parents or grandparents, but they will always have their heavenly Father who loves them even more than we do.
In late August I’ll turn 60 which I know isn’t so terribly bad, but it does sound a lot older than 59. My daughter was quite shocked to realize that her mother was older than she thought. Bless her, but she thought I was still in my early 50s.
Even though it doesn’t really have much to do with my age, I am in a period of adjusting to who I am again. I have two big dilemmas in my life right now, my eyes and my hair. I had a detached retina in October which required immediate surgery and then some time to recover. I “heard” the doctor say my eyes would be back to normal in three months, but I’ve since learned that it’s not the old normal but a new normal that I still haven’t adjusted to. My latest attempt to see clearly is to try bifocals. I’m not pleased. I hear it takes getting used to, but I’m not sure I will make the turn. My vision was a lot better than I realized, and now that it is not so great I appreciate what I had so much more. Most of us could say that about a lot of things in our lives.
And then there is my hair. When I turned 40 I remember asking the girl who cut it for years if I had to start wearing it short now that I was middle-aged. She assured me I did not have to cut it, and so I kept it shoulder length until I turned 50. It’s been in various stages of short ever since. But here I am approaching 60 and I’m thinking about wearing my hair longer again. It’s gotten long enough that I can pull it back into a short ponytail, my favorite “do” for so many years.
April 16
April 14
April 9
April 2