Children should come with warning labels, am I right mom and dad readers? As a parent, do you have times where you could use a good laugh about raising children? Have you ever wished that your children came with warning labels when they were born?

Do you remember those crazy and frustrating times that didn’t seem very funny at the time, but later on you discovered you could laugh about them?

Although children don’t come with an instruction manual for parents, kids should definitely come with warning labels, such as:

• Caution: Children Have No Warranty or Guarantee
• Caution: Motherhood Causes Identity Theft
• Caution: Teaching Children to Talk Will Backfire
• Caution: Children Cause Hearing Loss
• Caution: You are Not Smarter than a Fifth Grader
• Caution: Peace and Quiet Come with a Price
• Caution: Children are Not Cheaper by the Dozen
• Caution: GPS Locator Recommended

Patti McKenna’s new book, appropriately titled Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels, is a true and humorous personal story of raising children from birth through young adulthood.

Excerpt:
 

“Children have a natural tendency to explore, and their quest for discovery often takes them to unexpected places. While they may start out tugging on your leg, eventually making one leg of your jeans a few inches longer than the other, they ll wander from the task at hand and wind up in unfamiliar territory. I had never visited the space between the refrigerator and the wall until the day Sam got stuck in there. How she wedged herself in there, I’ll never know, but I had to physically move the refrigerator to free her from her newfound confines.

Then, Heather got her little head stuck between the rails of the banister. I also cannot explain how that occurred, but it is a phenomenon I believe should be added to the seven wonders of the world. The fact that we managed to pull her head out has to be the ninth wonder. Meridith got stuck, too. It’s frightening to know that your child is stuck and needs you, but you can’t pinpoint her location. The kids were outside playing, and their dad was with them, doing odd jobs and going back and forth from the garage to the yard. Walking out of the garage, he heard, Daaadddyyy! I’m cruck! Right away, he knew it was Meridith, because she was the only one who mispronounced the word stuck. Meri was cruck, but just where was she cruck at?”

“The title says it all. Patti has captured a truthful and humorous look at being a parent.” – Greg S. Reid, Author, Speaker, and Filmmaker

Patti McKenna has a nack for words, and her tongue-in-cheek parenting book of just 120-pages is full of hysterical stories about raising children, and is a book that appeals to both moms and dads with kids of all ages. Released in May 2009, Children Should Come With Warning Labels chronicles Patti McKenna’s funny and touching true experiences of everyday life as an average mom.

There is also two bonus sections: Parenting Survival Tips and Tricks, which are realistic, comedic, and on target, and Parenting Group Discussion Topics, which are thought-provoking and invite healthy debate on issues which are important to parents in their journey of raising children.

The story about the “industrial size jar of Skippy peanut butter” one child got her hands on while the parents were sleeping is priceless, as is the story about how Patti’s child nearly got her arrested for shoplifting in the grocery store. It gives new meaning to the saying “out of the mouth of babes”.

Ahh the memories. Caution: Children Should Come With Warning Labels by Patti McKenna is available at Amazon. I’ve read Patti’s book twice already and am about to start reading it for a third time – it’s THAT good!

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Empty nest syndrome refers to the feelings of sadness, grief, depression, loneliness, emptiness and loss when children grow up, leave for college, get married, or leave home to live on their own. “Empty-nesters” can either be mothers or fathers, but mothers are primarily the ones who have difficulty dealing with or coping with an empty nest when children begin leaving home to live their lives as adults.

What do I do now?, What can I do now?, are questions empty-nesters commonly ask before, during or after learning their children are leaving home, since parents have spent most of their lives focused on raising children, caring for the home and family, until suddenly the kids are gone.

Are you an empty-nester? Are your children leaving home to head off to college? Are your children getting married soon, moving away or getting their own home? Is your son or daughter leaving home soon, leading you to ask yourself, What do I do after my children leave home?

Empty Nest Syndrome

First, let me say, Congratulations! Give yourself a big pat on the back for having raised your children in such a way that you’re not dealing with adult children living at home years after kids should have left home and begun living their lives as full grown, successful, independent adults.

You have taught your children how to be an adult, and you should be congratulated! You have cut the apron strings by letting go, and the “tied to his mother’s apron strings” quote doesn’t apply to you in regards to your son or daughter leaving home. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with the “revolving door syndrome” so common in today’s society. Good for you!

If you are trying to deal with an empty nest now, or will be an empty-nester sometime soon, please understand you’re not alone. Many moms and dads are trying to cope with empty nest feelings and emotions just like you are, and no two people deal with stressful situations like this the same way, so patience, understanding and empathy are important.

What Do I Do Now? What Can I Do Now?

What do I do after my children leave home? There are many things you can do, should do or need to do now that your children have left home and you are alone at last. It’s time to change your focus on being a parent and the responsibilities of parenting children still living at home, and direct your time and energies towards other things you can do that bring you enjoyment, pleasure and a sense of fulfillment.

Ask yourself, if you could do it all over again, what are some “coulda, shoulda, woulda” things you wish you had done before getting married or before having children? The answer to “What do I do now” is that you now have time to take a life inventory on yourself and start doing the things you have always wanted to do but never could before.

It’s time to get busy! Put your thinking cap on and get those creative juices flowing, and come up with a “What I Can Do Now” list now that the kids are grown and gone. Go back to school to get your high school diploma, or get the college degree you always wanted. Rekindle the romance with your spouse and fire up your marriage by spending time together and bringing back the fun and excitement experienced when you were dating or before the kids came along.

Do some volunteer work; find a new hobby; join an active online support group for encouragement. Travel! Take a cruise, rent an RV and stay at RV parks while traveling, or check out the cost of Flights and buy a plane ticket to visit places you’ve always wanted to see but couldn’t. (I recommend the Philippines) Learn a new language! You can do what I’m doing and learn spanish online, or you can learn japanese online or any other language you have wanted to learn but never had the time.

Or, here’s an idea for you and it’s completely FREE! I bet, after raising your children, you probably have lots of interesting mom, dad, grandpa or grandma stories to tell. Why not start a free blog and write stories about whatever topics you are passionate about? If you’re wondering what is a blog, you’re reading a “blog post” right now about Empty Nest Syndrome. Get it?

Are you dealing with empty nest syndrome? What are some things you have found that helped you cope with your children leaving home? What is on your What I Can Do Now list? Share your ideas, suggestions, tips and advice in the comment section below.

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