Sunrise host Natalie Barr's advice to parents on verge of becoming empty nesters

West Australian

a day ago

It's taken almost two years for Sunrise host Natalie Barr and her husband Andrew to fully accept the reality of being empty nesters.
'It had never occurred to me what my life would be like when they walked out,' the mother of two told The Sunday Times.
While the silence of a quiet home can be deafening, Barr has been open in sharing her experiences with those entering the next phase of parenting.
Unfortunately, she admitted, there isn't too much she can say to fill the void.
'I've talked to quite a few women and some men who sort of stood back and said, 'Gee, I wasn't prepared for this. It's not something I thought about the moment they left home',' she said.
'I don't actually know how you prepare yourself, because you do spend quite a bit of time being immersed in that whole family dynamic where often you wish you'd have more time for yourself, and then all of a sudden you've got all this time to yourself.
'So be careful what you wish for.'
Grateful her two sons return home regularly, with her eldest based interstate, Barr said she's been forced to reflect on all the shared memories from their childhood.
However, the 57-year-old insists it's not healthy to dwell for too long, 'because my life moves on, doesn't it?'
Discovering time stretches further when there are less distractions at home, she and her husband have set their sights on more travel abroad.
Squeezing a recent getaway to Europe into their schedules, the couple were worried their two-week intercontinental dash would not bring the desired refresh.
But it proved more than enough.
'Two weeks away when you haven't got little kids feels like a lot longer,' Barr admitted.
'We had a great trip actually,' she added, somewhat guiltily. 'We hadn't been away without the kids on a really sort of fancy trip like that for years.'
Shifting gears between cocktails by the pool, and treading the cobblestones of historic cities, the increasingly frequent flyer even found a weekend this winter to return home to WA.
And this time, as an grown up kid herself, the Bunbury luminary leaned into her other mother-child dynamic.
As a tourism ambassador for our State, Barr was only too happy to sing WA's praises to her East Coast fans as she and her mum enjoyed long winery lunches, and soaked in the fresh air of Margaret River's coastline.
'That was a really beautiful experience, actually, just spending time together, but also going to places that someone else had given us on an itinerary, and quite a few of them even we hadn't been to,' she said.
While she's spent decades away from WA since her early years as a journalist, the popular personality continues to annually visit her family's holiday house in Dunsborough that's been in their possession since the '70s.
Just like each stage of life, the Telethon regular believes morning TV forces her to be open to a deviation from the script.
Her favourite moment of each workday is the minutes before showtime that she and co-presenter Matt Shirvington ponder what might happen in the ensuing four hours, aware they could lose control at any time.
'Sometimes we'll go by the schedule, but we have no idea,' Barr admitted.
'That's still the thrill of going live across Australia and having no idea what's going to happen next.'