Empty Nesters: 5 Tips For Those With Newly Empty Nests (PHOTOS)

You love them, sacrifice for them and root for them when no one else will -– it’s the unspoken promise of parenthood: “You are my child and I will always be there.” But in a blink of an eye, those same kids graduate and fly the coop, leaving parents (especially mothers) across the country, and increasingly the world, faced with the prospect of confronting that dreaded case of the blahs they call "empty nest syndrome." Sure it was part of the deal from the beginning, but to quote "Orange County" star Catherine O'Hara, “Who really said you had to go to college after high school?!”

With autumn in full swing, and a freshman class of parents facing the prospect of days that never seemed so long, schedules that never seemed so monotonous and houses that never seemed so big, we at Huff/Post50 decided to bring you our tips on how to turn an empty nest into a catalyst for growth and reinvention.