Exactly this. My older son is going back for yr 3 in a week. We have little for 1 more year, and then they’ll both be gone come August and we will be empty nesters. Until, as I have every confidence, older kid finishes that last year and moves back in again!
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I like the quiet/laid back, but I love it when they come home. Ah well, cooking from 4 to 2 takes some adjusting. That way, I make their favorites when they return to the homeland. They leave with meals in hand. I think I gave my son enough stuff for the first month.
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Ricochet syndrome. I have a 21 year old who moved home to finish his degree online and a 25 year old who lives a few blocks away but comes over frequently to eat dinner with us or take leftovers home.
So I am still making dinner for 3-4 most nights.
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I LOL’d
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My 2 are very different from each other. One only wants what is familiar. The other is very independent. I suspect the first one will come back to us until he finds a job that works for him, and will perhaps not go too far away. The other - I believe that once he goes to college, we will be lucky to see him annually after he graduates and gets on his feet.
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At Home, my Spouse(most of the time), Family(sometimes) and Friends(occasionally) . Townsfolk and Tourists at Work(all the time)!
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My grandmother taught us that there was delicious marrow in chicken bones, so her gnawing passed down (though it skipped a generation, maybe her kids were grossed out?)… my when mom was planning to make broth from chicken bones, she would tell us in advance so we’d leave them intact 
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That’s funny
Only the girls in the family took this forward… none of the boys 
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About 95% of the time I’m cooking for my partner and myself. We’re both vegetarian/opportunistic vegans, but not stringent. He takes care of his breakfast and lunch (eats the same things everyday, by choice) and I handle dinners and desserts, if we have the latter.
He prefers “goulashy” (his description) main dishes - think lots of things cooked together - in general. So pots of rice or other grains with lentils and beans, plus various veggies; veggie chili; and (when it gets cooler) many thick soups and stews.
Due to mobility and coordination issues on my end, my cooking approach has changed over several years. I now tend to cook with the intention of leftovers, either the same dish for several dinners or something that can be easily repurposed. Minimal exertion for maximum reward in order to not overtax my body.
This week it’s Field Roast Italian Sausages: all are cooked and then sandwiches for two nights, then the remaining sausages get chopped up, marinara added, and that goes over pasta/gnocchi.
All dinners start with some variation of a green salad and there are additional veggies as a side.
At the moment we have only a small freezer, else I’d batch cook.
Not exciting, but it’s working for us for now. I’m good with that and he says he is, too.
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In case anyone else was curious!
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LOL, this is exactly how my family raised us too. When I was a kid gnawing on the gristle was a common after dinner thing before the end of the meal. I think it’s a combination of culture, and quite frankly growing up a poorer immigrant. We did not waste food. As a kid I definitely remember gnawing all the cartilage off of bones, and for some of the chicken bones breaking them and sucking out the marrow. I dropped that habit as I grew older because I valued my teeth.
My mom still did that until her last days. Often at dinner she would eat lightly and pick at chicken and fish. But she loved the chicken bones and even the boney parts of fish to dig through all the leftover bits. Fish heads and fish collars were also a very big hit in the house.
Back to the central topic. I cook for myself, so it’s quite easy. When I had to cook for my mom while she was ill, I admit that was way more work than I thought it would be, because she didn’t eat what I ate. Two meals for every meal throughout the day.
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