Suzanne Harrington: 'Empty Nest Syndrome'? More like 'At Last Syndrome'

"Even when you adore your kids and live in peace, love and harmony with them — as most of us do, most of the time — there’s nothing quite like that deep exhalation when the door finally shuts behind them."

Pic: iStock

Of all the hollow-sounding and made-up ‘syndromes’ foisted upon us, empty nest syndrome is surely the most bare-faced.

The one where middle-aged parents — mothers — allegedly wander from room to room, crying at empty spaces where once lay piles of discarded wet towels, weeping at still-full fridges, gnashing our teeth at the absence of dirty plates piled next to — but never inside — the dishwasher.