When Their Kids Left For College, These Parents Did A Funny Empty Nest Photo Shoot

Universities across the country are preparing for move-in weekend, and many parents are facing the prospect of their kids being out of the house for the first time in years. For some, it’s sad to think that there will be one less set of shoes on the doormat.

And then other parents use those shoes to boot their kids out the door.

Vicky and Jeff Piper fall a little closer to the latter camp. While the two were sad to see their son, Cameron, enroll at Saginaw Valley State University one year after his sister, Caitlyn, left to study in Sydney, Australia, they weren’t upset about having some time to themselves.

“We’ve always loved each other so much that we have been looking forward to this,” Vicky Piper told Buzzfeed. “[Jeff] just kept on saying he just wants to date me all over again.”

But the Pipers were still getting calls from friends asking if they were OK. So, to assure their friends that they were, in fact, enjoying life without the kids, they proudly announced their newfound empty-nester status the way everyone announces everything these days: an official photo shoot shared online.

Armed with a blackboard announcing the date, a literal empty nest and wide smiles, the couple posted the big reveal on Vicky’s Facebook page:

“20 years ago we didn’t have gender reveal parties, portraits in beautiful fields with baby shoes to announce a pregnancy. Nor did we have baby photos on a blanket with a circle around a number showing how old they were. We drove our babies to sears or Olan Mills to get their photo!!!!!” Vicky wrote. “So in honor of our next chapter…here you go”

The post has been shared more than 45,000 times, as everyone seems to find the photo shoot hilarious.

Well, almost everyone.

“They love it,” Piper said of her two kids. However, she told Buzzfeed that they did add, “You guys are celebrating too much that we’re gone.”