Nesting Phenomenon: Not Just For Moms to Be

I woke up early one Sunday morning to find my mother going through some paperwork. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me that she was just getting rid of some old stuff.

It didn't stop there. In an obsessed way she started going through our entire house, re-organizing, de-cluttering and generally "nesting". But something stuck me as odd, so I set out on a quest to discover what was truly happening to her.

There is a phenomenon that all soon-to-be mothers' get in varying degrees. It is called "nesting". This is where the mother-to-be, whether it is her first or fifth, sinks into a mode of cleaning and preparing for the newborn. It could be as simple as cleaning the house to more extreme measures like grouting the bathtub at two in the morning.

Nesting begins about the fifth month of pregnancy and will continue until the child is born. It is a term that is used to refer to an expectant mother's instinct which gives her a surge of energy which prompts her to clean and do various chores around her home. Not all women will nest. Some are nesting and are mentally unaware of it - they are going around their living quarters doing tasks in preparation for the child's birth. Then there are those who report a surge of energy that is impossible to still and are unable to quell that energy.

Well, the young one has arrived and all is as it should be. The child grows into independence and the mother experiences a new sensation - "empty nest syndrome". This occurs because the mother is saddened that the child is no longer attached as they once were. It can last for just a few months or even many years.

But like all things, time passes and both stages are but distance memories. The mother goes on to learn something new - maybe take up a new hobby - then there is a new phase that the mother enters into - harmonization. The mother goes through everything to consolidate, reorganize and get rid of. It appears to hit about the age of 60 and is the last phase of a mother's life as it never goes away, sometimes it just likes dormant for a few months and then resurges with a vengeance.

My mother is currently experiencing this phase and has been going through same for the past two or so years. It all started simply enough - spring cleaning. It sky-rocketed from there, now she claims to be gathering items to protect in case of a fire. That is a perfectly reasonable idea, but it has snowballed into cleaning out clutter and items that are no longer of use, need or she just no longer wishes around the house are gone. I have watched her catalog movies, cds and even my video games. She has inputted all this information onto a flash drive that she stores in a fire safe. She has also inputted any and all information she can find regarding our personal lives, i.e. insurance, medical and even our pet's information.

While all of this appears to be all well and good it can continue onto other areas that are not yet explored. There is no true medical evidence (as of yet) that I an report regarding this "harmonization". I have spoken to several mothers that have adult children or at least more independent children and they exhibit the phase to some degree whether they are aware of it or not. There is no name for this phenomenon, but it is a serious matter that all adult children should and need to be aware of. If you live at home or just visit, be warned nothing is at it appears - your mother could be harmonizing as you read this.