We caught up with local mom Melanie to get her advice on the best gifts for the empty nest mama whose little birds are busy young adults now and living on their own.
Melanie became a mom quite young so has spent the majority of her life being a mom; which has made the last couple of years with a newly empty house quite the adjustment.
Her eldest, Alex, is in her mid-20s, living with her boyfriend in downtown Kelowna, so only 40 minutes away from Melanie but busy with her growing career and her own three fur babies; They luckily still manage to meet up a couple of times a month. Melanie's youngest, Aleeyah, is entering her last year of university at Western in London, Ontario so is a 5-hour flight away! Aleeyah does end up spending the majority of reading weeks & holidays in B.C. at home with her mom or Melanie has even made the trip to stay at her University house to make sure Aleeyah gets some mama care time; Melanie may be hopeful Aleeyah will graduate from Western University life and opt for a west-coast living! As hard as their new living situations were to adjust to, Melanie has loved seeing her girls grow into their own adult lives, and she gets to talk to them almost daily with calls & texts often asking for life (& laundry) advice or their awe and gratitude for everything she did for them. Plus, it's fun to be able to drink wine with her kids now!
To add another layer of change to the last couple of years, Melanie & her partner sold their downtown Toronto, Ontario home and made the move across the country to a new house with some land in a quiet spot close to Kalmalka Lake. Fast forward to now - Melanie's settled into Okanagan life and fully blossomed into this new chapter of her life. She's got some exciting career projects on the go, two cute rescue dogs to dote on, and her beautiful, dream lavender and veggie garden growing bigger every year - she has truly mastered the lifestyle!
Here's her list of favourite gift items (and they all ship easily):
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