Last year when we took our youngest child off to experience his freshman year of college, I had read an article that talked about being parents of “free range adults”. I loved the terminology of it, as we are not so much “empty nesters”. Yes, they have flown the nest, as some might say, but our kids come home, unlike a bird that flies away. Our grown kids are “free-range”. They come and go as they please.

Our home will always be their home.

All our kids have come home at one time or another after they have left. Whether it would be for Fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas break, or even for a weekend visit. Our oldest son was in the Marines so when his “leave” would be approved, he would come home.

These “free range adults” come and go as they need. We are their “home”.

When my oldest received his DD214 papers, we flew out and met him and his little family a few hours from their base which they had been stationed for his career. We rode with them and helped with their drive back home. That is what you do when you are parents of free-range adults. They lived with us for a few weeks, as we were working on updating their home and getting ready for them to move into it. Although they have since settled in and have made their residency else where and are no longer what I consider "free range", as they have a permanent home.

Even even they have a home, they still come and go from ours, We love their expected and unexepected visits and for reasons I always keep my snack drawer stocked for my grandsons and my grown children. I am glad that they know they are always welcome.

Every day we give our love and support to our “free-range adults”.

Last spring, my middle son informed me that he would have to move back in for a month until the house that he and some other friends would be renting was ready. Although the initial thought of him moving back in was a bit overwhelming and maybe I was a bit sour as I had become accustomed to a clean quiet home with a place for everything. Although the poor guy was just excited about moving back in as I was about it. Once we got past our own selfishness, he and I took a trailer to his house at the time and moved everything of his into our basement and into our garage. In all honesty, I loved having him home.

They may move out, but they might move back in, that is what these free-range adults do.

In less than a week, my youngest son returned home from his first year of college with all his belongings that he had in a dorm room. A little less, but still, enough. I was not as overwhelmed as his brother moving in earlier in the week which had helped soften the transition for me from not having any of these young adults in our home to having now, two.

Free-range adults that are on their own do not live like they did when they were in your home. They come accustomed to how they live as "free ranged", literally. I said what I said.

I am not sure what it may be like to have “free-range adults” that are girls in comparison with boys, as I do not have experience with that. Our boys come home with garbage bags full of unfolded clothes and have a mixture of clean in with the dirty. Does this sound about right? Ooft! Oh, well. We love them, anyway.

Our middle son moved out after a month at home, when he left, he had a few garbage bags less of clothes than what he had arrived with. It was discovered that many clothes were not worn anymore, so we took them to Goodwill. After reading my blog about simplicity, I am sure many of you know my thoughts on clothes. Why, just why, do we accomulate so many clothes? We moved him into his new space with everything in place and was organized. We were so proud of him and his ability to provide for himself.

Now, It is again that time of year that our youngest will be leaving again for college and after having him home all summer, there are parts of me that have already started the "homesick" feeling that you get when your child is leaving or away from home. I know also that although we will be taking him and all his belongings that he can fit into a fraternity room hours away that he will come and go from our house, as he is still a free-range adult.

We love that they know they can come and go.

If you are soon to be parents of “free-range” adults, or in other words have grown adults that will come and go as they please, you will eventually learn to enjoy this new role and will look forward  to their visits and spending time with these creatures that will invade your home for breaks or for the holidays, or even unexpected times, as that is what they do.

This is the season to enjoy watching them grow into adults that God had planned for them to be and also for parents to bask in our now known freedom from the busyness of all of the child rearing years into the high school activities that kept us up way past our bedtimes that we did not realize was much earlier than we thought. We have the freedom to travel and to be more spontaneous. If we want to eat cereal instead of a meal, it's perfectly legal. Yes, we still have schedules, but they are not as full as they once were. 

As our children grow, we know one day, they will all have their own permanent homes and will not be “coming and going”, as they once did, but hopefully they will know how much they are loved and how their visits mean so much.

Our door will always be open. No invite needed. Snack drawer stocked and ready for hugs and stories.