I\u2019m testing the waters to see if you\u2019re out there, feeling adrift, as I often do: the empty nesters whose umbilical cords\u2013although severed long ago\u2013stretch to New York or Japan, or wherever their progeny may have landed; or, the divorced woman or man who knows he or she is happier alone than with the former mate, but whose loneliness begins a circle of floating in and out of, \u201cDid I make the right decision?\u201d This is for the happily married mother with healthy children, who feels so helpless as she wades through her days of feeding, changing, scolding, teaching and driving that she barely has a moment to shower, much less take the much touted \u201ctime for herself\u201d that all the glossy magazine covers tell her SHE CAN\u2019T BE HAPPY WITHOUT. She doesn\u2019t even have to buy the magazines. They shout at her from the end table in the pediatrician\u2019s office as she holds her screaming infant in one arm and mops her toddler\u2019s hands with sanitary wipes after he touches every car on the model train that another coughing child has sucked on first.<\/p>\n
But, there are bright sides for everyone. Empty nesters have more time to nurture their relationships\u2013sans adolescent interrupt-us. The divorcee will eventually find that there is a serenity in being alone\u2013which comes from a tidier kitchen and from not having to pick up dirty underwear off the bedroom floor. And, the young mother\u2019s children WILL GROW UP, presenting teenage problems that will make her long for the simpler days of diapers. Her thoughts will turn from dread of having to drive her children to dread of having them drive!<\/p>\n
Then there are people like ME\u2013the woman who \u00a0went so overboard trying to make a great life for her children and husband and was in such a fun whirlwind while doing it that time spun out of control and suddenly SPLAT! \u00a0I was squashed helplessly against the side of the ship, deflated from buoying everyone else up for so many years. My dreams are like the floaters in the back of my eye\u2013popping up and reminding me they are still there. They taunt me: \u201cSo, what are you going to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
If \u00a0any of you out there in Cyberland are having \u00a0similarly sinking feelings, maybe these words by Henry Ford will help drive you to higher ground: \u201cWhen everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hope to hear from you!<\/p>\n
Nancy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m testing the waters to see if you\u2019re out there, feeling adrift, as I often do: the empty nesters whose umbilical cords\u2013although severed long ago\u2013stretch to New York or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womanoverboard.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}