Parent of Adults is a newsletter about life after the kids grow up.

That’s right, they grow up. We’ve been working toward this all along, right? Of course we have. And it’s wonderful. But it’s also weird.

Both my kids adults live out of state — one’s a college junior and the other’s a college graduate living and working in the Midwest.

I love, and I mean love, being the parent of young adults. I knew things would shift after they moved out. But empty nesting has been way more than a shift — it’s a whole new world of parenting, marriage, work, friendships, interests and sense of purpose.

This is both thrilling and unsettling in ways I didn’t anticipate.

The cultural narrative about empty nesting barely touches what, for me, has been a massive transition.

Empty nesting is vast and nuanced in ways the saccharine stock imagery and wine mom quips don’t reflect.

Why don’t we talk about this?

Especially given, like other parenting transitions, empty nesting plays out differently for everyone??

And we’ll be parenting adults for the rest of our lives???

I started Parent of Adults as a place to compare notes and keep each other company as we go along.

This is my invitation to hang out, swap stories, crowdsource input, bust a few stereotypes, and chuckle and/or sympathetically pat each other on the shoulders as we navigate empty nesting and parenting adults (and future adults).

Each of us has stumbled upon our own unique nuggets of wisdom. Why not share them? 💎

I suspect we’ll see ourselves in each others’ messy stories and discover we’re not alone. We never were.

About me

Hi, I’m Asha Dornfest, a writer and parent of two young adults.

I’ve been writing books since the mid-90’s and sharing collective parenting wisdom since the early aughts. I’m the author of several books but I’m best known for Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids, a book inspired by my community blog of 10+ years.

I also co-wrote Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More By Doing Less with Christine Koh, which evolved into our co-hosting 250+ episodes of the Edit Your Life podcast.

My husband, Rael, and I live in Portland, Oregon. We love it here. My mom recently moved to Portland, too.

Parent of Adults is essentially a free newsletter with a paid option for those who want to help support it (and me).

Free subscribers receive weekly posts in their inboxes. Comments are open to everyone for a week after publication. Archived issues remain publicly available for six months.

Paid subscribers get additional benefits as a thank you for supporting my work: occasional bonus posts, unlimited access to comments, and the full, unlocked archive.

There are no ads, algorithms, or sponsors here; this newsletter runs on the generosity of paid subscribers.

Paid subscriptions cost as little as $3/month when paid annually. For those who don’t want recurring charges there’s a Lifetime subscription: a one-time payment of $50 gets you a “forever comp” subscription which gives you supporter benefits for as long as you’re subscribed.

If you can afford it, I hope you’ll consider an upgrade to paid subscription. It’s a meaningful way to support and encourage the work I do or have done over the years.

If paid subscription isn’t your thing, you can show your support by liking (❤️) and commenting on posts, forwarding this newsletter to friends, and spreading the word on social media.

Every bit helps, I’m grateful for all of it.

The empty nest is only the beginning…and it isn’t empty. I hope you’ll join us!

A note about gender & language: I write from my perspective as a cisgender woman (she/her). I welcome readers of all genders and do my best to use gender-inclusive language.