We started our blog, Think Beyond the Nest, after both of our grown boys had flown the coop. We’ve shared our experiences, thoughts, ideas and activities along the way. The nest we built many years ago was down to two.
And just like that, after becoming perhaps a little too cozy, we have found our nest to be not so empty any more. Our son, Kai has returned and has brought along a furry friend with him named Bennett!
After spending several years working in St. Louis, Kai moved back home in July to begin the process of eventually building his own nest with his now fiance, Molly. Molly recently finished nursing school in St. Louis and has also returned to Kansas City where she will begin working soon at a major academic hospital. They were engaged in July and will be married in October 2019.
In order to save money for their own house, Kai moved back in, stored his stuff in our basement, and is now a very welcome inhabitant of our home. He gets up earlier than he ever did before (haha), does his own laundry (most of the time), cooks dinner (occasionally), does dishes (a lot), and even shares the remote control (OK, never). He has a great job (yahoo), thinks about things like 401k’s, health insurance and all of that grown-up stuff.
But wait… did I mentioned a fourth member of the Bressler nest? We got Kai back, and we also welcomed Kai’s puppy, Bennett into our home. Bennett – an eight-month old, 65-pound black lab puppy. Of course, I have fallen head over heals in love with Bennett, our “grand puppy.”
We really thought we were getting a sweet, little puppy, but after living with Bennett for a few month now, we really think Bennett might actually be a Velociraptor. A year ago, I never would have understood this cartoon, but my bloody arms and bruises can attest that the following is very true. Thankfully, his baby teeth are gone and the blood on my arms has subsided.
We’ve always rescued adult pugs, and so the Lab puppy experience was all new to me. It’s just like having a toddler in the house again – irregular sleep patterns, lots of curiosity, toys strung out all over the house, and even a sibling rivalry with our grandpa pug, Edwin.
It’s been a lot of work, but it really has been fun. We get to walk dogs around the block together, we have another golf partner, and we’re very excited about getting our drummer back for The Bressler Band.
Many of you have probably had birds return to the nest. In fact according to the Pew Research Center:
As of 2016, 15% of 25 to 35-year-old Millennials were living in their parents’ home. This is 5 percentage points higher than the share of Generation Xers who lived in their parents’ home in 2000 when they were the same age (10%), and nearly double the share of the Silent Generation who lived at home in 1964 (8%).
The experts are also correct – it’s good to establish some expectations on the front end, but once you build a nest, we hope it’s always a warm, welcoming and loving place to return. Even if a 65-pound Velociraptor is part of the package!
Think Beyond The Nest 
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