Dr. Laura Call of the Day
Episode: Deep Dive: From Stay-at-Home Mom to What?
Date: October 23, 2025
Episode Overview
In this "Deep Dive" episode, Dr. Laura Schlessinger focuses on the emotional, psychological, and practical challenges faced by stay-at-home moms when their children become independent and leave home. The episode features heartfelt calls from women navigating "empty nest syndrome" and offers Dr. Laura’s signature mix of tough love, encouragement, and practical advice to help them redefine their identities and find purpose as they enter a new chapter.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Shifting Identity After Full-Time Parenting
(01:10–05:24)
- Dr. Laura champions the importance and value of stay-at-home mothers, referencing her book In Praise of Stay at Home Moms.
- Callers express fear, anxiety, and grief as their primary parenting role winds down.
- Dr. Laura normalizes these feelings but cautions against melodrama, emphasizing that this transition is a common and natural experience.
- “You have no place in the world right now. I’ve got to build you a new. You have to build a new place. It’s not complicated. … Millions of women make this transition all the time. Don’t get melodramatic about it.” (03:25)
2. Finding a New Place & Building the Next Chapter
(03:06–06:23)
- Dr. Laura urges listeners to actively pursue something new: learn, take up a new course, develop new interests.
- The importance of shifting perspective: instead of mourning the loss, treat it as the opening of new opportunities.
- “It opened up my world—new things to do, new things to learn. Plus, I’m still a mom. … But it isn’t like it was when he was a kid at home.” (04:17)
3. Maintaining Healthy Boundaries with Grown Children
(06:39–07:47)
- Caller considers moving to follow her son to college, and Dr. Laura emphatically advises against it to avoid stifling his independence.
- “Leave him alone. Don’t you dare become an annoying mother, please.” (07:01)
- “You raised him so he would have a life. You didn’t raise him so you could suck his life dry.” (07:40)
4. Redefining “Empty Nest Syndrome”
(07:49–10:56)
- Dr. Laura challenges the notion that becoming an empty nester is a disaster, instead positioning it as a positive transformation.
- “I do not subscribe to the belief that children going up and out is some kind of disability or disaster. … Think of it more as a shift.” (07:49)
- Emphasizes the opportunity for renewed relationships—with grown kids, with husbands, and with oneself.
5. Addressing Feelings of Being Unappreciated or Unneeded
(10:56–14:08)
- Callers discuss feeling invisible or unneeded by teenage children.
- Dr. Laura reassures that parental presence is always valued, though it may go unexpressed—especially with sons.
- “Teenage boys in that age are not going to slobber over you like a daughter. … They look up and they see you’re there and they like it.” (11:47)
- Encourages mothers to cultivate new hobbies or volunteer roles if they feel unfulfilled or bored.
6. Transitioning Is Not the End—It’s a Different Role
(14:11–18:41)
- Discussion about never fully “moving on” from motherhood, just changing how that role is expressed.
- “You have no idea how hearing your mom’s voice when you’re in the middle of gunfire… you’re always going to be tapped into, but right now you’re getting close to that transition.” (14:34)
- Importance of intergenerational wisdom—older women guiding younger through these transitions.
7. Embracing Uncertainty and Opportunity
(22:36–24:56)
- Dr. Laura frames uncertainty as a space for excitement and new possibilities.
- “Uncertainty freaks a lot of people out, but what’s unknown could turn out to be amazing. Embracing it means taking a risk that’s uncomfortable. It’s basically a choice: be miserable or uncomfortable—and with incredible possibilities.” (22:36)
- Highlights the value of exercise and volunteering to regain a sense of purpose.
8. The Power of Helping Others to Find Fulfillment
(23:55–25:59)
- Shares an anecdote about the transformative power of helping others.
- “You never know who’s being helped more, the helper or the helped. … Reaching out and helping others is good for empty nesters. … You immediately feel needed, valued, valuable, worthy, necessary.” (23:56)
- Encourages mothers to weave together different sources of meaning after children leave home.
9. Real-Life Success Stories: Transition Done Well
(25:59–28:01)
- Caroline calls to share her journey of going back to work after 18 years as a stay-at-home mom.
- “While my kids were in school, I took online classes and I educated myself. … To all those moms that are there who question it, I’m here to say that it works. After 18 years, today was my birthday back at work.” (26:17)
- Dr. Laura celebrates Caroline's success and reiterates that “me” never goes away, it simply evolves.
10. Defining Parental Success
(31:12–32:06)
- Dr. Laura sums up:
- “One of the toughest things about being a parent is that you’re raising the ones you feel you can’t live without to be able to live without you. But as I like to say, a good mother works herself out of a job. … Then it becomes time for you to get to be self-focused. That’s a good thing.” (31:12)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On moving forward:
- “This is just another chapter in the book. We each have a book to our lives, and it has chapters. Stop the crying.” — Dr. Laura (04:17)
- On unhealthy attachment:
- “Don’t make him feel obligated to you at this time in his life. That would be terrible.” — Dr. Laura (07:19)
- On finding fulfillment:
- “If not, you’re going to be one giant pain in the ass to your kids.” — Dr. Laura (09:28)
- On parental significance:
- “If you died tomorrow, your family would plunge into the biggest depression ever seen.” — Dr. Laura (13:38)
- On evolving identity:
- “Me is just a different phase of me. … Me never left.” — Dr. Laura (27:39)
- On parenting success:
- “A good mother works herself out of a job. If she doesn’t, her kids are snowflakes. So you’ve done it right if you make yourself relatively useless; then it becomes time for you to get to be self-focused. That’s a good thing.” — Dr. Laura (31:23)
Important Segment Timestamps
- Main theme and first caller: Transition shock — [01:06–05:24]
- Healthy boundaries after kids leave — [06:39–07:47]
- Redefining “empty nest” and positive future focus — [07:49–10:56]
- Feelings of inadequacy as kids need less — [11:00–14:08]
- Role evolution and readiness to transition — [14:11–18:41]
- Strategies for handling uncertainty — [22:36–24:56]
- The value of helping others — [23:55–25:59]
- Success story—Caroline’s transition back to work — [25:59–28:01]
- Final thoughts on parental purpose and self-focus — [31:12–32:06]
Tone and Takeaways
- Dr. Laura’s style is candid, direct, and infused with humor, realism, and support. She pushes callers (and listeners) to embrace personal accountability and refuse to wallow.
- The episode reassures mothers that while the end of hands-on parenting is emotional, it’s full of potential. By building a new purpose and self-identity, parenting success is embodied in raising independent children and then finding fulfillment anew.
Summary prepared for listeners seeking clarity, practical advice, and encouragement on navigating the transition from full-time motherhood to the next life chapter.