![Empty nest](https://cdn.magzter.com/1387480582/1715329613/articles/wmBPjKYiy1715343129887/EMPTY-NEST.jpg)
When I was sixteen, the swell of my life beginning to expand was palpable, the world opening up like a treasure trove. I was enamoured by books and American campus-based dramas, each one set to the backdrop of russet and gold leaves, so that I believed university took place in a state of perpetual autumn - a place I couldn't wait to get to. There was a readiness within me to be the main character of my own life. I assumed a reciprocating process would take place once I was a parent; that as my children grew up, the cloying love, the choking worry that grips you when they are babies, would ease into a mutual readiness for them to move out. But with my own child approaching this stage, I've discovered that there isn't a mutual process taking place for me, that my feelings are far more complicated...
My eldest will sit GCSEs this year, so the reality that she will be leaving home in the not-too-distant future has started to bleed into my consciousness like a dark stain, filling me with a sense of anticipatory grief. From the moment our children are born, we mark key moments of their lives with rituals that help them to metabolise the transition from one life stage to the next: the tooth fairy when their baby teeth fall out, birthday parties, graduation ceremonies, not to mention the support that goes into preparing teens to become independent enough to leave home. But what of parents and caregivers? How do we navigate this transition?
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Psychologies UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Psychologies UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![There's No Excuse to Slow Down! - Presenter, podcaster and author Gabby Logan talks to Psychologies about health, happiness, and overcoming hurdles in midlife...](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/FTlG1QWB71725274040301/crp_Logan-Gabby-LoganJill-HalfpennyAdele-Roberts-TV-presenter-Gabby-Logan-perimenopause-HRT-balanced-hormones-book-The-Midpoint-Plan-wealth-of-advice-middle-age-mental-health-hormones-midlife-crises-entering-middle-age-midlife-meltdown.jpg)
There's No Excuse to Slow Down! - Presenter, podcaster and author Gabby Logan talks to Psychologies about health, happiness, and overcoming hurdles in midlife...
Presenter, podcaster and author Gabby Logan talks to Psychologies about health, happiness, and overcoming hurdles in midlife...When TV presenter Gabby Logan started to experience brain fog in her late 40s, struggling to recall the correct word or name on live TV, she initially put it down to tiredness. 'I couldn't quite get that name or articulate in the way I had previously been able to, so I was concerned, but it coincided with lockdown and not doing any telly for a while. I remember feeling quite nervous going back to live TV.' But the former international gymnast soon realised that it was a symptom of perimenopause and promptly went onto HRT, which she says has balanced her hormones.
![Kindle your creativity](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/n8gyAurNp1725277968988/KINDLE-YOUR-CREATIVITY.jpg)
Kindle your creativity
Increase your sense of connection and support your self-expression, urges Caroline Butterwick
![Fast and filling!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/FkMiuqwOd1725277404765/FAST-AND-FILLING.jpg)
Fast and filling!
Join the high-protein revolution and eat better everyday, with these full-of-flavour recipes from nutritionist Scott Baptie's new cookbook
![What's your optimum?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/0CRuZxrJU1725277035948/WHATS-YOUR-OPTIMUM.jpg)
What's your optimum?
Eating well can cure what ails us, so why is it so hard? Anna Blewett discovers the secrets to a more resolved relationship with food...
!["FRIENDSHIP DELIVERED SO MUCH OF WHAT ROMANTIC LOVE HAD PROMISED"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/ghrCpKykQ1725276809977/FRIENDSHIP-DELIVERED-SO-MUCH-OF-WHAT-ROMANTIC-LOVE-HAD-PROMISED.jpg)
"FRIENDSHIP DELIVERED SO MUCH OF WHAT ROMANTIC LOVE HAD PROMISED"
Author Marianne Power talks to Psychologies about self-love and the sisterhood...
![Summer break or make!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/BmqhngxVM1725276560269/SUMMER-BREAK-OR-MAKE.jpg)
Summer break or make!
Hello, lovers! September is here, and the lazy holiday season is behind us. And for many-me included - now feels like the perfect opportunity for a personal kick up the backside, and to embark on a relationship reset. In my work, it's typically women who take the first steps accessing couples' help, but recently (and encouragingly) I've noticed an uptick in men reaching out to get relationship advice and wanting to put the work in.
![Time to spread their wings](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/pe1o1__wS1725276168851/TIME-TO-SPREAD-THEIR-WINGS.jpg)
Time to spread their wings
As the seasons shift and shudder, threatening rhythm and routine, Heidi Scrimgeour embraces September in all its bittersweetness...
![Big wild world](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/GAe6BvGcq1725276064229/BIG-WILD-WORLD.jpg)
Big wild world
Caro Giles fills up her cup with summer colour and awaits autumn wonder...
![Stories to inspire](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/oIblaXXm31725275649801/STORIES-TO-INSPIRE.jpg)
Stories to inspire
I've always collected other women's inspiring stories. On the days I feel overwhelmed by self-doubt or fear, I gather them close. They are like sparks of light, igniting that voice within me that says, if they can do this, so can you...
![Reclaim pleasure in your body](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5262/1814813/21Jo02Ibi1725275399881/RECLAIM-PLEASURE-IN-YOUR-BODY.jpg)
Reclaim pleasure in your body
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves,' wrote Mary Oliver, in her poem Wild Geese. Children know this innately. Yet, by midlife, we might have long lost the ability to relate to our body as an instrument for pleasure.