Having all your children leave the nest is both terrifying and wonderful. They won’t be around you 24/7 anymore, which is weird. But at the same time, you raised them to be confident enough to leave the house and conquer the world on their own.
Now your home is empty. You have all this space and all this time. What should you do? It’s time to party. Since all your time and space is your own again, why not make the best of it?
1. Put Yourself (and Your Partner) First
Now that the kids are all gone, it’s finally you time. This is your time to rest and recuperate. It’s also time to give your partner some love. For years, it’s been you both putting the kids first, but it’s finally time for you both to reconnect.
The party can be whatever you both decide is suitable for who you are as a couple. Whether that’s a rager or a quiet dinner party, it’s up to you. Maybe the party could even be some funny theme like “finally married – without kids”. The party is really for both of you.
2. Break Out the Drinks
This doesn’t have to mean alcoholic drinks. You could make some beautiful liquor-free mixed drinks. Or you could go alcoholic. This is your night. If you want to drink until you’re stumbling and drunk, just make sure that you’re surrounded by people you trust in a comfortable place.
You can provide as many drinks as you want, or even have friends bring alcohol for you and your partner to enjoy.
3. Theme the Party to Your Hearts’ Content
Are you a planner? Did you love planning birthdays and parties for your children? Even if you didn’t, the idea of having a party that is exactly what you want is exciting, isn’t it? You can make the party theme however simple or complicated you want.
There are plenty of event planning services online and in-person that you can hire, so go crazy. If you want a huge boombox at your party, it’s yours. What about a disco ball? That could be yours, too.
4. Reach Out to Old Friends
The empty nest party is a great way for you to make old connections new again. If you’ve been putting off going out with friends to take care of your kids, you have no more excuses. They’re all gone. You have as much time as possible to hang out with friends.
The one good thing about having spent so much time away from friends is that you don’t have to reconnect with people you didn’t like. The children already did a good job of helping you cut out negative people from your life. You don’t need to add them back in again.
5. Bedtime Is For Losers (or Not)
Because it’s your party, you can make it last as long or as short as you want. If you want to kick people out by 10 pm, you can. But if you want a party that goes on until midnight, it’s your life. You don’t have to plan anything. Just go with the vibes of the night and decide when you want to end things.
Honestly, if you want, you can even turn the party into a sleepover (except with adults). There’s no limit to your power.
An Empty Nest Doesn’t Mean a Boring House
Even if your kids are all gone, you don’t have to crumple up and die. You can be the party host that you’ve always dreamed of being, just without the kids bursting in randomly.
