What I Learned About Working Parenthood

Post-Empty Nest

There are so many articles about the challenges and stresses of being a working parent. But this is an article about joy.

Let me just, for a moment, shine a light on the pleasures that await you once your kids have grown up and left home – it comes faster than you think.

I’ve had several friends visiting this summer who are just entering this phase. It’s a huge, under-explored shift that results in all of them (and their partners) thinking about adjusting work, housing and vacation plans to a new chapter of life. It’s worth investing time and thought into the shift. It’s also incredibly hard to imagine just how much changes - and how you’ll react. Here’s a few thoughts looking back at the 7-year chapter after the kids graduated university.

You’ve probably heard of the happiness ‘U’ curve of life. All over the world, human happiness slumps between 30 and 50. Those parenting-marriaging-elder-caring-working years can be a tough slog, as many of us will admit to one other.

But what fewer parents will admit to is the thrill of being post-hands-on parenting. The delight of watching the kids you have adored, accompanied, and applauded for a couple of decades blossom into themselves – and leave you the freedom to do the same.