Joanna and Chip Gaines Find New Ways to Stay Strong as Parents with Empty Nesters

“Fixer Upper” star Joanna Gaines is going through a trying time right now because her oldest kids are going off to college!

“I’ve had to practice a healthier mindset about this beautiful rite of passage that my kids are experiencing right now,” says Joanna, 46, who shares Drake, 20, Ella, 18, Duke, 16, Emmie, 15, and Crew, 6, with her husband of two decades, Chip, 50. The family lives on a 40-acre farm in Texas.

“Every stage of ‘growing up’ has been a cycle of change, then gain. So, for me, it’s really a matter of looking at ‘different’ in a healthy exciting way and being expectant for all these new moments and milestones we get to celebrate as a family.”

Joanna, who just released a new children’s book called “The World Needs the Wonder You See,” says she’s grateful for all the things her children teach her.

“The clarity in which they see the world challenges me and gives me a fresh perspective,” she says. “We’ve built a lot in the last 20 years, but there have been so many losses and failures.

“So when it comes to our kids, we’ve tried to instill in them the perspective that it’s not always about making it to the championship game. It’s the journey along the way — the skills you’re developing, how your character is being refined — that really matters.”

The couple have started working out together after installing a gym in their garage and they’re taking dancing lessons, too!

“It’s a fun and hilarious thing for us to do,” says Joanna. “Really, just continuing to find new ways to partner up is what keeps us strong.”