No, We Won't Buy You a... and an Underground, Secret River in Mexico

Our main goal as parents was to end up with happy, healthy, self-sufficient adults.

We can't tell anyone how to do this -- everyone's different and Lord knows we made our share of mistakes along the way -- but we can offer an insight that we've gained through our own offspring's transitions from childhood to adulthood.

Don't give kids everything they want, just everything they need.

 A whole lot of what they want is stupid crap and... CONTINUE READING >>




Floating Down a Secret River in Mexico

So... a guy was chasing an iguana, and discovered this... 

The Yucatan Peninsula is hiding miles and miles of secret rivers.

This was revealed to us just outside the Riviera Maya town of Playa del Carmen, Mexico when we descended beneath the surface and into Rio Secreto.

By into, we really mean in to... CONTINUE READING >>

The "Cottages" of Newport, Rhode Island

It was called the Gilded Age, a time when robber barons built excessive tributes to their self-proclaimed awesomeness.

Newport was the epitome of this unbelievable excess, aptly dubbed Conspicuous Consumption.

In an effort to one-up each other with their “summer cottages” iconic American families of railroad, mining and steel fortunes, threw lavish parties for their pets, had notorious... CONTINUE READING >>



Will YOU be at Women At Woodstock?

Veronica is excited to be attending Women At Woodstock on October 13-15. Come join her!
Use this code - WAW300VIP - to get a special $300 GypsyNester discount
Click here: womenatwoodstock.com/register

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Our Son Has One of the Most Dangerous Jobs in the World

The Boy has just embarked on a new journey. He has accepted one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

He is now an Alaskan bush pilot (I suppose we should now call him "Captain The Boy").

This is something he has wanted to do for a long time, and though I'm beyond-words proud of him for realizing a dream (and working extremely hard for it), I am not thrilled by... CONTINUE READING >>

Also on GypsyNester.com this week:

Fabulous Food Signs of Osaka's Dotonbori 

The competition for most eye-catching advertising extravaganza is nearly as much of a draw as the food in Osaka, Japan's Dotonbori District.

When the crab restaurant Kani Doraku erected their giant mechanized crab sign back in 1960 they kicked off quite a craze of giant animated... CONTINUE READING >>

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The Shocking Male/Female Divide of Boomerang Kids and some big news!

Men bounce back home at a rate of 40 percent, compared to just 32 percent for women. 

As our offspring have grown older and more secure in their adult lives the idea of them returning to the nest as boomerang kids has become much less of an issue for us.

But a recent article in The Tribune, "How to deal with adult children who move back home," reminded us that for many would be, no should be, empty nesters it is still an ongoing fact of life.

The first thing that struck us from the article were these statistics... CONTINUE READING >>

Also on GypsyNester.com this week:

We Won a Prestigious 2014 Viator Travel Award!

We're starting 2014 with a bang! So proud to be among all these great honorees! See them all here!

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Boomerang Brats

The author of "The Benefits Of Being A Boomerang Kid" lists three reasons that full grown adults should continue to force their parents to support them and, consequently, avoid contributing to the economy and society at large.

On the top of his list, spending Mom and Pop's money instead of his own.

"Saving Up- With no rent or utilities, you can build up your nest egg as long as you're disciplined."

Gee that's right Kid, no worries. Has it occurred to you that while you're "building up your nest egg" that you're depleting your parents'... CONTINUE READING >> 

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Ouch. Too Harsh or Just Plain Hilarious?

Bloomberg Businessweek has just launched a new ad campaign designed to give the loved ones of boomerang kids a tongue-in-cheek edge via e-card.

The idea is to send a less-than-subtle greeting to an adult kid overstaying his or her welcome with a ... See more e-cards >>

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What Do the Experts Say About Boomerang Kids? It's NOT what you think

Full-grown, twenty-something college graduates are returning home to have their parents continue supporting them due to "immaturity" or because "they just prefer the comforts of home?" And the expert's take is that there is nothing wrong with that picture?

Jaw, meet floor. Maybe there was some mistake. Maybe the expert, wasn't clear on her meaning. We should give her the benefit of the doubt and look at the answers she and her fellow expert gave to some other pertinent questions. After all, they are on the staff at... CONTINUE READING >> 

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Mom, Stop Coddling Me and Let Me Grow!

We have discussions about the parent / adult "kid" relationship quite frequently here at GypsyNester.com, but it's quite rare that we get to hear the young adult point of view on our site, other than a few cherished comments in our discussion section.

We don't kid ourselves, we are aware that there aren't a lot a twenty-something people who get up in the morning and think, hey, let's see what the geezer set is up to this days. 

So we felt pretty good when we came across "The Drawbacks of Being A Boomerang Kid" at YPULSE. In this story a recent college graduate  affirms our position on adult offspring returning to the nest.

"Could it be that some ... CONTINUE READING >> 

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You Brought Your MOM to Your Job Interview?

Okay, it’s rave time. Just a warning.

I sympathize with helicopter parents, I really do. I was one. I reluctantly stopped hovering once my kids left the nest. I knew that the sovereignty of the Spawns was more important than my own desire to continue colonial rule. Trust me, we’ve ALL benefited from my abdication.

Did I hound my offspring to do their homework when they were kids? You Betcha. Did I have meetings with their high school guidance counselors to voice concerns without the Spawn present? Guilty... CONTINUE READING >>

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Bounce That Boomerang

The subject of Boomerang "Kids" has been in the news a lot lately, and the story we're being sold is that poor, brave youngsters with new diplomas in hand have no choice but to move back into their old bedrooms at Mom and Dad's house.

All sorts of numbers have been bandied about, some say a quarter of recent grads are unemployed or underemployed, others say half, and one completely unscientific study proclaiming the preposterous idea that 85 percent... CONTINUE READING  >>

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Get a Job!

Once again an article online got me thinking. While I don't necessarily disagree with The Wall Street Journal's premise, the headline, Why Kids Today Have it Worse Than Their Parents (Ben Casselman), sure sounds whiney.

But the meat of the article has some good infonuggets:

"Today's 20-somethings are, broadly speaking, the children of the last of the Baby Boomers, those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s. That generation, like this one, came of age in the midst of a brutal recession: The unemployment rate for 18-24 year-olds topped 17% at the end of 1982. (In 2010, it briefly crossed 18%.)"

As a twenty-something back then, yeah, I remember that time well. Things were tight, but we got through it OK.

Now, having recently sent three newly-minted adults out into the world, I have firsthand experience of how both recessions have effected young adults. Lucky me.

It's no secret that we believe... CONTINUE READING >>

Boomerang "Kids"

A recent advice column I read was just plain disturbing.

 It involved a mother who is a newly retired homeowner with an outstanding mortgage. Unless she was the CEO of a major publicly traded corporation, this lady is on a whopper of a fixed income.

 Now get this - she has two sons, aged 22 and 24, living in her home and she has asked them to pitch in and pay $30 a week.

 “Stressed-Out Mom” says that they are now “ranting and raving and calling her a bad... CONTINUE READING >>

Stick a Fork in Us, We're Done!

Our youngest, The Boy, graduated from college on Saturday. He's somehow managed to graduate with honors, all while holding down two jobs. We can't imagine having that much energy. As parents, we couldn't be prouder.

In addition to the pride we feel for our son's accomplishments, we have found other reasons to celebrate. This is the last year we'll ever make a tuition payment, have an offspring on our medical insurance, or... CONTINUE READING >>

You Brought Your MOM to Your Job Interview?

Okay, it’s rave time. Just a warning.

I sympathize with helicopter parents, I really do. I was one. I reluctantly stopped hovering once my kids left the nest. I knew that the sovereignty of the Spawns was more important than my own desire to continue colonial rule. Trust me, we’ve ALL benefited from my abdication.

Did I hound my offspring to do their homework when they were kids? You Betcha. Did I have meetings with their high school guidance counselors to voice concerns without the Spawn present? Guilty... CONTINUE READING >>

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... read more

You Brought Your MOM to Your Job Interview?

Okay, it’s rave time. Just a warning.

I sympathize with helicopter parents, I really do. I was one. I reluctantly stopped hovering once my kids left the nest. I knew that the sovereignty of the Spawns was more important than my own desire to continue colonial rule. Trust me, we’ve ALL benefited from my abdication.

Did I hound my offspring to do their homework when they were kids? You Betcha. Did I have meetings with their high school guidance counselors to voice concerns without the Spawn present? Guilty.... read more