Why I won’t buy into empty nest syndrome – it doesn’t have to be such a major crisis

stock image

Charlotte Cripps
© UK Independent

He’s leaving me! I feel like my life is over,” sobbed an old school friend when I popped over to her house to pick up a child’s balance bike that she was giving away. She wasn’t talking about her partner walking out on her, but her “baby” – an 18-year-old who is heading off to university in September.

It’s as if her world had become meaningless – before he’d even packed his bags and removed his smelly socks. No matter how free his departure will leave her to go on romantic dates with her partner, or enrol on the psychotherapy course she has dreamed of taking, nothing can take away her feelings of grief and loneliness. The house that is currently full of noise and chaos is soon to be suddenly strangely quiet.