When my kids were close to graduating high school I used to go stand in the doorways of their rooms and look inside.  Because I was imagining what I would do with the space after they moved out.  Does that make me an awful mother?  I don't think so.  I was their mother then and I still am today.  Rather, I like to think that it was my role changing and that I got to enjoy my kids as adults...and have more space for me in the house at the same time.  

Rather, I like to think that it was my role changing and that I got to enjoy my kids as adults...and have more space for me in the house at the same time.  

I was proud of my kids and the adults they were becoming.  But I also felt some twinges.  The nest would be empty and they would be gone on their own.   In a way, it felt like I was losing a piece of my identity.  

When our kids become adults, our parental roles change.  Our kids are no longer...