Brooke Shields reflects on becoming an empty nester

Brooke Shields, 58, is preparing to embrace an empty nest as her daughters Grier, 18, and Rowan, 20, head off to college this fall. 

 

 

 

 

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But the actress admits she's not quite ready for this big transition. She shares her daughters with her longtime husband, Chris Henchy.

 

"Not ready," Shields tells PEOPLE when asked how she's feeling about her daughters moving out. "I thought I would be relieved, but I don't know."

 

She adds, "The thought of no longer living 24/7 in the house with these people that I've raised, it's just very foreign. It's like going to a totally foreign territory."  

 

Shields shared that she asked her younger daughter for a "grace period" while she adjusts to their lives beyond the nest. 

 

"I said to my daughter, 'I have to get introduced to you. Because I only know you as doing what I say you should do. And you're not a baby anymore. And I need a little bit of time to re-acclimate to you as the young woman,'" she explained.

 

While appearing on The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM, Shields spoke about her strong bond with her daughters and predicted they would return home after starting college. 

 

"Yeah, I've been avoiding thinking of it because people will say to me, 'Oh, you're gonna be so relieved,' and I just don't see it happening," she admitted.

 

"I don't see it happening. I was like, 'Well, they're still gonna come back,' and by the way, the cost of just living in this city is so prohibitive anyways that it may work in my favour."

 

Despite her eagerness to welcome her daughters back home, Shields joked that she might consider charging them rent. "Maybe I'll start charging them rent though. That might be a good idea," she quipped.
 

In another interview with 'Entertainment Tonight' she said,  "I'm not quite in denial but, definitely, I'am going to be a mess, I really am gonna be a mess but I know that they come back. My older daughter comes back often; they'll be my babies forever.”

 

Until that time comes, Shields cherishes every moment with her girls, especially when her husband is away. "My younger daughter just turned 18. You know, the minute my husband is on any type of work trip or gone or something, you know, they still sleep in the bed with me," she said. "We still watch rom-coms. They're my babies and they will never not be."