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Natalie Barr’s advice to parents whose children are leaving home is candid: she does not know how anyone can fully prepare for the change. Years of family routines can make personal time feel scarce; then, when children move out, the house may suddenly be quiet and the time unexpectedly wide open. “So be careful what you wish for,” the Sunrise presenter said.
Why Barr says the change can catch parents by surprise
In an interview with The Sunday Times reported by PerthNow on 16 August 2025, Barr reflected on becoming an empty nester with her husband, Andrew Thompson. She said she had not imagined what life would be like after their sons left home, and had heard from other parents who were also surprised by the transition.
“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,” Barr said. Her warning is not a preparation plan so much as an acknowledgment that the change can be hard to picture from inside busy family life.
Her first response was grief for a chapter that had ended
The move did not feel like a simple change of household routine. In March 2024, Barr told 7NEWS that she and Thompson drove their younger son to Canberra for university. “We packed up the car, drove him down, said goodbye and drove back bawling our eyes out,” she said. “I think we were mourning the period of our lives that is now gone forever because it’s their childhood (that’s over).” The report said their older son had already moved to Melbourne.
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By June 2024, Barr described the first months as disorienting: she moped, ate more chocolate and was unsure what to do with herself. That is her account of her own adjustment, not a timetable or a description of how every parent will feel.
The relationship continues, but the family routine changes
Barr has stressed that becoming an empty nester does not end the work or connection of being a parent. “The job of being a parent isn’t ever over, but we’re in a new part of the relationship and had to learn what the different boundaries were,” she told WHO in June 2024. Her point is that the bond remains while children build lives away from home and the terms of everyday contact shift.
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In the 2025 PerthNow report, Barr said she was grateful that her sons still came home regularly, although the older son was based interstate. She recalled childhood memories but also recognized that life moves forward; remembering the earlier years does not mean remaining in them.
Adjustment took time, and new possibilities appeared
PerthNow reported that Barr and Thompson took almost two years to fully accept becoming empty nesters. That period describes their experience, not a benchmark for other families. Sadness and the discovery of new possibilities can coexist: Barr spoke positively about a two-week European trip with her husband, a kind of holiday they had not taken alone for years.
She also described practical changes to her own routine. WHO reported that she bought a Pilates machine for home exercise because her work hours made it difficult to attend classes. It was a personal solution to a scheduling problem, not a recommendation that other parents need to copy.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What parents can take from Barr’s advice
- Do not assume you can predict exactly how the change will feel. Barr says she could not fully prepare herself for it.
- Make room for sadness if it comes. Barr described mourning the end of her sons’ childhood at home.
- Expect routines and boundaries to change as children establish lives elsewhere; the parent-child relationship itself continues.
- Allow the adjustment its own pace. Barr’s nearly two-year account belongs to her family and should not be treated as a universal timeline.
- Notice opportunities for time or routines that were harder to make space for before, without treating travel or a new activity as a cure for missing the children.
Barr’s “be careful what you wish for” captures the paradox at the heart of her reflection: parents may long for more time to themselves, yet find that the time feels different when family life no longer fills each day.
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