Something happened over the weekend that simultaneously took a long time getting here and arrived all at once: my youngest – my baby girl! – left home. She graduated high school last year, but decided to postpone college until she had a better handle on what she wanted to study (and if it was worth overpaying for that degree).
She spent the last year doing volunteer work while living at home, but this summer an appealing opportunity arrived for her: the chance to get a job and live with friends in Richmond – and an additional year to think through college. Despite the fact that she pinky-promised me years ago to live with me forever, we all decided it was time for the baby bird to fly the nest.
Now, Richmond is admittedly full of weirdos, but is also full of opportunity for young people to launch into adulthood. We set down some terms: this is for one year, a college (I'm rooting for Franciscan University) or other long-term life plan needs to be created, and absolutely no nose piercings or tattoos.
Now, there is a silver lining in all of this, at least for me: she's living a block away from her older sister, who is funny and level-headed (despite having graduated from the same art school as Mrs. Zohran Mamdani) and will keep an eye on things.
We moved her down to Richmond on Sunday, and it was filled with all the complications you'd expect. Finding a U-haul trailer on a summer weekend; driving south on a summer weekend; rain; back aches; and, "how did this kid end up with so much stuff?" dismay.
And Richmond was, of course, weird. I got Flock'ed at Lowe's.
Went to Richmond for the day. Got Flock’ed at the Lowe’s. pic.twitter.com/0lMcTOXr6g
— Teri Christoph (@TeriChristoph) July 26, 2026
But, we got her moved in, had dinner with the big sister, left the baby bird with millions of boxes to unpack, and made tracks back to home here in Loudoun County.
I woke up this morning with one burning question: now what? (Also, "where's the Advil?")
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Like most moms, I've been dreading the day my baby leaves. She's my "surprise!" baby who came along after her three older siblings were already in school, so she was also my constant companion for many years as a stay-at-home mom. And, of course, there was that pinky promise that I liked to remind her she made when she was seven.
Despite long days and nights worrying about your kids and their futures as they grow up, this day still arrives out of nowhere. One minute, they're toddling off to preschool with their oversized backpacks, and, the next, they're making plans to head to a rock festival the second mom's safely a few hundred miles away.
So, what do I do now? I'm going the classic mom route – I've got big plans for her bedroom. No, it's not going to be filled with Pelotons and free weights (aka, expensive clothes racks), but it will, instead become a podcast/YouTube recording studio. I've dipped my toe into the world of video podcasts this year, but have only had limited space available to me to create a studio (one corner in my bedroom that has to be set up and broken down every time I make a video – I'm too old for that).
No longer! I'm claiming part of the nest for my next act: YouTube superstardom (I kid). But, I do plan to enter this next season in life diving headfirst into multimedia reporting and giving a Gen-Xer's perspective on what's going on. There will also be travel. The hubs and I already have a trip to Norway planned for the dead of winter to see the Northern Lights.
Sorry for being so self-indulgent with this Gen-X Files, but, hey, achieving the empty nest stage in life is a milestone! And I appreciate the Boomers before me who warned that it would arrive faster than I could possibly imagine, even though I couldn't imagine that when four kids were crying at the same time.
Here's to empty nesting!
