Thursday, August 30, 2012

Full Nest Syndrome...For Real?

Did y'all know that there's actually something called Full Nest Syndrome? I didn't. Apparently, it's when not only your kids move back home but your aging parents do too. Wow. That would be quite an interesting experience. Especially in our cozy little house.

I don't have a Full Nest but I do have one that's been back with me this summer and will be here for a bit longer. I always assumed that having one of the lovelies come back home for a while would be a good thing. For me. You know, so I could do all those 'mom' things for her again. I really like doing 'mom' things for my girls no matter how old they get.

Having Birdie home has taught me that having one back in the nest is even better than I thought.

10 Benefits for the Mom:
  1. You get to know your kid as an adult. And, I have to say, she turned out to be a wonderful young adult. (I'll have more on this later).
  2. You don't have to entertain her. BUT she can entertain you!
  3. You get to walk down memory lane with her. Which is great because then you hear all about the things you thought you could have done better were just fine with them and that the lessons were, indeed, learned.
  4. You get caught up on all the current young adult phraseology. So that you don't have to keep saying things like 'peeps' or even further back from my own childhood with 'groovy' or 'Can you dig it?' or 'far out...dude'.
  5. If you want to go out to breakfast you have someone to go with you without having to call a friend. Sorry Leslie (my BFF)--we'll go this week!
  6. If you're missing an ingredient, she's here to run to the store for you.
  7. It puts one more adult besides you in the house who actually cleans up after themselves.
  8. When you finish up her laundry for her, she says, "Aw, thanks Mom!"
  9. When you're frustrated about your weight and fitness, she's here to say, "You're doing great, Mom! We're all so proud of all you're doing!"
  10. There's someone to criticize movies and television commercials with you. Birdie and I love to catch the grammatical errors in commercials. And both of us LOVE old movies but neither one of us likes 'Casablanca'.
It has also taught me that there are benefits for her as well.
 
10 Benefits for the Kid:
  1. FREE rent.
  2. FREE food.
  3. FREE electricity.
  4. FREE water.
  5. FREE laundry service.
  6. FREE morning coffee.
  7. FREE maid service.
  8. FREE dog care.
  9. FREE lawn maintenance. 
  10. FREE exposure to comedy---Birdie is shaking her head in the negative. She's hilarious too.
Yep. The benefits just keep on coming.

Have you ever had one move back in?



20 comments:

  1. I'm the kid that moves back in with the parents, and those benefits are amazing! It's nice to see a mom's perspective on it. Now I know I'm not as much of an inconvenience as I thought!

    Full Nest syndrome? Who has room for all those people in the house?!

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  2. Jennifer- Trust me, you're not an inconvenience at all! If your parents are like me, they are loving having you there! I know we don't have room for all those people! LOL

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  3. Sorry, no experience as a parent nor as a returning child, but if I did, I would definitely want to come back to your house. Actually, can I come anyway? I promise I'll let you do my laundry, bring me coffee and watch old movies with you. And I'm pretty funny top at times :)

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  4. Alessandra- Of course you can! Any time at all! I'll even pick you up at the airport- then it's wine and the beach and a little sightseeing downtown and just whatever you want to do!

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  5. Not move back in because 4 have them haven't left yet. :) Does that count. I know I suppose be anxious to have them out but I am not. I have all of the reason you list, I love having someone to watch movies with and the big plus is they like and understand my humor.
    I am pretty glad they are still here. For a bit longer. I am also thankful for the 17 year old too. They do make me laugh.
    I am so glad you wrote this because it makes me feel good that you still like your kids. I get uncomfortable around people who hate their kids and sometimes I feel like I am the only one who likes mine. I have enjoyed every single stage and I love the adult part.

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  6. My chef son is back until October while he gets further seaman training and looks for another dream yacht in the Caribbean. I know. Tough.

    I find that he's never around. Either at school or at work cooking for other folks. We get the occasional meal but they're pretty few and far between.

    I'm sure girls are different.

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  7. Kim- What's not to like? LOL I can't even imagine not liking my girls. I mean, the love just comes naturally, I guess. But liking them is even better! I've enjoyed every single stage too. Some people are just weird I guess. Glad it's not us. :)

    Stephanie- Oh my. What a tough life/career he has. LOL Maybe you could lay a little 'mom' guilt on him for more meals? I'm kidding. Who does that? Oh...that's right. MY mom does that.

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  8. I did. But somehow it was not all good like in your case. My baby moved back and was all independent and I couldn't shut my pie hole, so there were a lot of sparks flying...haha. But I did love having her!

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  9. Betty- Oh no! Sorry Betty! I think it's easy-ish for me to shut mine because my mother NEVER shuts hers. LOL

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  10. I do love the relationship with adult children. It's such a blessing to hand with our children and be their friends.

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  11. Yes our youngest moved in after college. I thought she would be out there with her own nest but not yet. She got really close to moving just this past month but it fell through. All the food is not free she contributed some. She is pretty good about laundry and even does mine on occasion.
    Your list very much depends on the people involved because they are not all the same. I think the cons out weight the pros and hopefully it will not be too many more months.
    Oh the parents moving back - wow does that mean we can be kids again? - right I didn't think so.

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  12. Not yet but my parents helped us out a couple times and my siblings popped once too, so, I am sure mine will need a leg up, no problem,the door is open :)

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  13. I have not had one move back but I am about to have one move away to University....eek! I will be lost but already I am making plans to be very very busy so that time passes.

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  14. Debby- Amen to that!

    bill- I wonder if it's different for dads? My husband doesn't mind having them here but he also doesn't mind NOT having them here. Parents moving back....well, I wouldn't want to be a kid again. My mother was way too controlling for me to EVER want to back there. LOL

    Lucy- Ours is open too!

    Lyndylou- How's it going over there? Did you get her moved out? I need to get over to your blog and catch up!

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  15. I had the opposite situation this summer. My parents were moving to a new country and due to a glitch with their paperwork, they had to stay an extra two weeks but they had already given up their apartment. They moved in with me and my husband.

    From a 'child's' perspective, it was wonderful to have my parents around because I got to take care of them for a change. I enjoyed the quality time we spent together and they could see their 'work' in action - teaching me responsibilities, how to cook, how to care for my home.

    At the same time, I don't think you're ever too old to snuggle with mom! :)

    It was such an amazing experience to share - more memories for future trips down memory lane.

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  16. How sweet is this post! My two are almost ready to fly the nest (22 and 18.) Stopped by from SITS. Enjoy your weekend!

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  17. Blimey, because Izzy is only 7, I haven't experienced the 'empty nest syndrome' yet, let along the 'full nest syndrome'. Funny post though - I loved all the benefits of having your daughter around ;-)

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  18. I have a 19-year old that has yet to move out. She fully acknowledges that she's milking the living off us for free thing. She'll be married within the year so I can wait that out. I also have a 21-year old who's moved out and back three times. I imagine she'll land somewhere eventually. They're great kids who help out a lot at home. I'll keep them for now. But there are definitely days when I want to kick them out. You know, those days when they know so much more than I do about how to raise my other children. Yeah, that gets old.

    Enjoy the good times!

    Happy Sharefest. I hope you have a lovely weekend.

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  19. Sometimes I would love to just pack up and go home and live with my parents forever. I really love my family, but I got to go try to start my own family some day.

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  20. Have one left in the house ... none to move back yet, but I moved back in with my Mom once, years ago. It was great to come back and know my Mom as an Adult and it was Great to have her do Mom things for me, too. She still does a little of it now. If I hint at being sick, my Mom drops her hammer (she's a serious DIYer ... she's repairing my grandmothers roof) she'll drop her hammer and come right over with a soup she whipped up! I just hope I'm half the Mom she was/is.

    Yep, nice to have a bird back in the next from time to time.

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