为 “离巢”孩子喝彩.docVIP

为 “离巢”孩子喝彩 　　In mid-August I will be driving home in a van emptied of clothes， pillows， mini-fridge and plastic bins after dropping off my youngest son， Colin， at his dorm at the University of Iowa. It will be my ninth， solo-parent college dropoff： four times for my oldest son， Weldon， to the University of Wisconsin； four times for my middle son， Brendan， at the Ohio State University； Colin’s first. 　　Most people would say I have an empty nest. But I say， for the first time in 25 years it will be full of me. And for the record， my three sons are happy and ready to leave home. My oldest at 23 is already self-sufficient—living， working and earning a masters degree in Madrid， Spain. So for me， wishing to keep your children forever frozen in dependence， 2）thwarting their separation from you feels just plain wrong. 　　The U.S. National Center for Education Statistics states that 19.7 million Americans are headed to college this August and September， so supposedly millions of American parents will succumb to the woes of empty nest syndrome. While I love my sons， I find it selfish and unnatural to suspend， delay， or 3）impede their 4）forward momentum. Whose life is it anyway？ 　　And it isn’t just college that is a reason for leaving home. Many are beginning new lives—working， moving in with a partner or friends. According to the American Community Survey from the 2010 U.S. Census， 10 percent of the total population of 309 million Americans are young men and women 18-24 years old， representing roughly 31 million Americans. There are 114.5 million households in this country with children， or about one-third of all American households. Millions of those households will be“empty nests” for the first time. 　　And parents and adult children are 5）brainwashed to think this is a bad thing. Consider the 6）Verizon Droid commercial of the mother crying so hysterically over the fact that her daughter is moving “4.2 miles away，” that her blubbering requires subtitles. 　　Empty nester