All too soon for Michelle Pfeiffer’s liking she’s going to be an empty-nester. The mother of 17-year-old son John and 18-year-old Claudia has opened up to Parade magazine about how much she’s dreading the day her children leave home for good.

“People make a lot of jokes about the empty nest. Let me tell you, it is no laughing matter. It is really hard,” explained Michelle Pfeiffer. “Claudia’s in her first year of college. She’s doing great. My son is applying to colleges now.”

The 54-year-old continued, “I remember reading an interview with Dustin Hoffman; his first child had just gone off to college, and he said, ‘Nobody talks about their [empty] room.’ I feel like I’m going to cry just thinking about it.”

The actress, who has been married to David E. Kelly since 1993, went on to say, “Being a parent is the hardest thing in the world … the psychological toll it takes on you because these lives are in your hands. I take it very seriously. Just when you think you’ve got your kids figured out, they change on you. For somebody who’s controlling, you can’t control it. Of course, I don’t think I’m controlling, but that’s what I’ve been told!”

photo: Michelle Pfeiffer covers Parade magazine