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12 Things We Told Our NYC Girls to Prepare for Frankenstorm

We have two daughters living on Manhattan, right in the path of Frankenstorm. After years of living in the Caribbean we have some valuable tips to give them. Though being over-prepared may make them feel stupid, it can also save their lives.

Please share these with your urban loved ones in the path of the Hurricane Sandy.

1. Fill up your bathtub… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, caribbean, electronics, GN Guides, gypsy nester, new york, panic, things going terribly awry, top ten lists, urbanite offspring

Exclusive GypsyNester Merchandise for Celebrating Life After Kids and Breaking the Empty Nest Rules!

Fear Conquering & Writing A Will

In the union of David and I, I am the less fearless. David has always been the adventurer – I am the homebody, the helicopter mom, the worrier. Selling the nest and heading out into the big, wide world, for me, was stepping outside the box. WAY out of the box.

My biggest concern was to have our affairs in order, in the event of my certain demise. It’s essential for me to be sure that the kids are not burdened when I go down in flames in a hang gliding / bungee jumping / snowboarding / street food eating episode… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, certain death, change, covering our ass, Decibel, empty nest, fear conquering, gypsy nester, holy crap, inappropriate adjectives, packing, planning, The Boy, The Piglet, urbanite offspring

Helicopter Mom – You Are Grounded!

“A mother is only as happy as her saddest child,” a close friend’s grandmother used to say. When I first heard her say this, all three of my children were young and safely in the nest so I could totally relate. Somehow I thought once they were grown up this would change. It didn’t.

Trouble finds its way into everyone‘s lives – and as much as we hate it – trouble finds our adult children. Whether it rears its ugly head in a… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, college, Decibel, empty nest, gypsy nester, helicoptering, killing and eating ramen, The Boy, The Piglet, things going terribly awry, urbanite offspring, Veronica crying

Who’s Kidding Who?

The last task of raising a child is letting them go. Allowing them to flap their cute little wings and fly… giving them a gentle nudge out of the nest to get them airborne. Ah yes, little birdies, spread your wings and fly. OK, sometimes it’s more like a hard shove off a cliff… but the harder transition from the parent-child relationship to an adult-to-adult one must be made.

This process doesn’t happen overnight. The ritual sounds easy in theory, but it can be a bit sticky in practice. It’s difficult not to be mommy or daddy and even harder for the chicks not to revert… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged annoyed pigs, baby boomers, belief system, boomerang kids, change, Decibel, empty nest, gypsy nester, helicoptering, in-laws, The Boy, The Piglet, urbanite offspring

Grandchildish Behavior

I’ve had two unexpected conversations recently that have given me pause for reflection. The first was with my father-in-law while dining over Mexican food in Kansas. While catching him up with our kids’ lives, he asked me if they were dating anyone of note. I told him that at the moment there were no significant others. Then, the bolt out of the blue,

“Oh, you must be sad that you won’t be having grandchildren anytime soon.”

The next exchange was with my daughters, The Piglet and Decibel.

“All of our friends’ mothers are on crazy grandma patrol. How come you aren’t nagging us about having babies?”

It started out as gentle teasing, but… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, change, countdowns, Decibel, dirty secrets, empty nest, flying spew, grandkids, gypsy nester, helicoptering, holy crap, in-laws, procreating, The Piglet, urbanite offspring

2012. A Year for Smiles

My New Year resolution is to make everyone I come in contact with smile. You are forewarned. I WILL crack you.

Sharing smiles with strangers has long been a personal philosophy of mine, at times to the occasional chagrin of David and the embarrassment of my former teenaged kids, but this year I want to… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, belief system, big ideas, change, charmed life, comedy, Decibel, gypsy nester, holidays, international sign language, laughter, milestones, smiles, The Piglet, urbanite offspring

No Home for the Holidays

Selling the nest and becoming GypsyNesters has given our adult chicks the joy of being the hosts in their homes for the holidays.

Christmas is the one time we allow ourselves to hands-down spoil our kids – and, boy, do we ever! As thrifty as we are during the non-Jesus-being-born part of the year, we let loose the coffers when we visit The Spawn during that “most wonderful time of the year.”

Oh, the anticipation! The joy!… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, change, Decibel, empty nest, food, ground level travel, gypsy nester, holidays, new york, out-of-the-box memories, sell the nest, The Boy, The Piglet, urbanite offspring

GypsyNesters on the Radio!

Get the GypsyNester story!

We joined Jill and Claudia over at Empty Nester Radio and had a BLAST.

Listen in as we answer these great questions:

How did you become known as the GypsyNesters?

What did your kids say when you told them of your plans?

Do you have… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, big ideas, boomerang kids, change, charmed life, empty nest, gypsy nester, helicoptering, Media, memory lane, nation of two, no plans, panic, The Boy, travel, urbanite offspring

Adventures in Nest Swapping

One of the many advantages to having an “empty” nest is the freedom to swap your nest with other adventurous types. We decided that before we sold our house, we would try using it as bait for a cheap month in New York City.

Being in the habit of Googling at the drop of a hat, we took the online approach to finding suitable exchanges. We looked at several different sites, and chose a well known one for its ease of use and abundant choices from all over the globe. For a small annual fee, one can peruse homes, set up destinations to visit and… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged cheesy tourist diversions, Decibel, empty nest, food, GN Guides, googling at the drop of a hat, gypsy nester, hotel alternatives, new york, The Piglet, travel, urbanite offspring

9 Things We Told Our Girls in the Event of the Manhattan Hurricane

We have two daughters, The Piglet and Decibel, planning to ride out Hurricane Irene on Manhattan. Having lived in the Caribbean, here is the advice we gave them. Please share this with loved ones as being over prepared can make you feel stupid, it can also save your life.

1. Fill up your bathtub with water. Water supplies get contaminated with flooding. You will want to bathe and cook. If you don’t have a bathtub, buckets, pots & pans work as well.

2. Buy food. I called it “The Week of Living Amishly.” Canned food, canned food, canned food.

3. It’s gross, but your toilet will only… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, caribbean, Decibel, drunken college kids, electronics, empty nest, GN Guides, gypsy nester, new york, panic, The Piglet, things going terribly awry, top ten lists, urbanite offspring

Our Year in an RV – What We Spent & How We Did It

So how do committed boat people end up in an RV? Easy. On a spur of the moment whim.

Since we headed off into GypsyNester territory, BAMF has taken us to thirty-four states, three Canadian provinces, fourteen National Parks and a beautiful seaside town in Mexico. It was an amazing journey. We had no idea what we were doing, but we sure learned a lot, so we’d like to share some of what we discovered along the… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged Americana, driving, electronics, GN Guides, googling at the drop of a hat, ground level travel, gypsy nester, hotel alternatives, national park, The Boy, travel, urbanite offspring

When Hurricanes Blow

Our daughter, Decibel, spent a whopping twenty minutes at the college of her choice, Tulane University. She never attended a single class. It has to be the shortest college career in history.

There was a storm a brewin‘. And it was a whopper.

On a beautiful August day, Decibel landed in New Orleans ready to take on the world. She was especially giddy since she had been chosen from the pool of incoming freshman in the Musical Theater program to sing at orientation — a high honor indeed. Not to mention instant… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, caribbean, college, Decibel, empty nest, gypsy nester, holy crap, irony bus, louisiana, New Orleans, panic, pitfalls, storms, thanksgiving, The Piglet, things going terribly awry, urbanite offspring

Mama Loves a Ball of Paint

It’s Mother’s Day. This one is a milestone for me. It’s my first without chicks in the nest. I’d received phone calls from all three of my children — the fast-walking, subway-chasing, black-wearing, taxi-flagging NYC urbanite daughters, The Piglet and Decibel, and The Boy, sending their love and best wishes. Each expressed their undying gratitude for spawning them and shared all the wonderful things going on in their busy lives. Absolutely lovely, everyone remembered me, and no guilt calls would be needed for at least a week.

Now the rest of the day loomed menacingly. This GypsyNesting Mama needed a diversion. It had to be a well established diversion, something so spectacular that… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged Americana, baseball, cheesy tourist diversions, Decibel, empty nest, ginormous stuff, ground level travel, gypsy nester, Indiana, The Boy, The Piglet, travel, urbanite offspring

Love and Spit-takes

Have you noticed that the older we get, the less we laugh? As a mother and someone who has worked in academic settings, I find myself envious of teenaged girls who can work themselves into hiccup-inducing hysterics over the slightest thing. Admittedly, the tears come just as fast, and I have to say I’m glad I’m past THAT nonsense but just witnessing a spontaneous giggle-fest sets my heart a-singing.

As a society, we unfortunately chalk uncontrollable laughter up to immaturity. How sad is that? I feel blessed anytime I’m with someone who can find humor in… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, Decibel, empty nest, flying spew, gauntlet dropping, googling at the drop of a hat, gypsy nester, laughter, new york, out-of-the-box memories, spit-take, The Piglet, urbanite offspring, wine

HOliday HOmecoming HOopla

The holidays are fast approaching so now is a good time to explore some of the unique aspects of family gatherings for empty nesters.

(A little note from the authors: When we refer to Christmas, please feel free to substitute Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalia, winter solstice or whatever it is you celebrate. We are only using Christmas as an example because it is our family tradition, and to keep from having to write three or four names every time we refer to a holiday. Absolutely no slight is intended or any preference for one over another. If your family is like ours, no doubt any one of them can be just as crazy as the next.)

Thanksgiving, Christmas or both… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, college, empty nest, grandkids, gypsy nester, holidays, homecoming, in-laws, new york, out-of-the-box memories, pitfalls, thanksgiving, The Boy, urbanite offspring

T-Rex and the City

There’s passion on Manhattan. I felt it as soon as I arrived on the island. For me, a major part of this enthusiasm radiates from my fast-walking, subway-chasing, black-wearing, taxi-flagging urbanite daughters, The Piglet and Decibel. The New York I know is viewed through their eyes and it is a very youthful place. The Piglet recently moved in to her first studio apartment (all by herself!), so it was decided I’d stay with her. Between work and school, Decibel is fitting me in where she can.

I’m on my own during the day (as a matter of fact, I’m sitting in a Starbucks with my laptop, just for the experience. Very civilized.) and at night, we go out. I have to say I’m a bit flattered that The Piglet feels she can drag this old T-Rex around everywhere she goes. But, apparently, this dinosaur can… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, bang-up people watching, cheesy tourist diversions, comedy, Decibel, dinosaurs, drunken college kids, empty nest, gypsy nester, new york, out-of-the-box memories, rushes, The Piglet, travel, urbanite offspring, walking, wine

Graduation A Go-Go

“Graduation speeches were invented largely in the belief that college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.” – Garry Trudeau

Between our brood of three and my brother’s trio we have six kids within a ten year age span. That used to mean some hilarious… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged baby boomers, boomerang kids, college, Decibel, empty nest, get a job, graduation, gypsy nester, in-laws, The Boy, The Piglet, urbanite offspring, yard apes

French Canadian Kiss

It’s a six hour transatlantic flight from New York City to get a French fix in Paris or, if you’re more Chevrolet set than jet set, you can hop in the car and drive six hours to get your Franco fill right here in North America.

Having seen much of the USA in a Chevrolet, we decided to swing by New York City to grab our daughters, The Piglet and Decibel, and head north for a whirlwind… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged art, bang-up people watching, Canada, churches, Decibel, effed up food, festivals, food, France, motorsports, music, no plans, Ooh la la, The Boy, The Piglet, travel, urbanite offspring

SoHo Appy Crawl

We take making a meal out of appetizers very seriously. Having them at multiple restaurants is even better. For this appy crawl, in the heart of Manhattan, we enlisted help from our middle child, Decibel, the black-wearing, taxi-flagging, fast-walking, free-lancing, f-bomb-dropping, urbanite New Yorker.

Feeling generous, we asked Decibel to decide on three restaurants she’d been waiting to visit until Mom and Dad could be there to pick up the tab. She rattled off three so fast that we knew she must have been waiting for us to ask 22 to decide on three restaurants she’d been waiting to visit until Mom and Dad could be there to pick up the tab. She rattled off three so fast that we knew she must have been waiting for us to ask and next thing we knew she was at our hotel room. The girl is like the… CONTINUE READING >>

Tagged Americana, appy crawl, bang-up people watching, caramel, Decibel, food, meat avoiding, new york, oysters, seafood, sushi, travel, urbanite offspring, Veronica crying, wine

Ethiopian Delight: Ghenet in Nolita

Nolita (north of Little Italy) is home to one of our favorite places on Manhattan, Ghenet Restaurant. It’s the perfect eatery for (friendly, non-germophobic) relatives and close friends as it is traditional eat-with-your-hands Ethiopian. Participants gather around a huge plate of communal fare and dig in with injera, a spongy, sourdough flatbread/food scooper.