No, not for your child's future.
For once, this week's column is all about you.
But it's not about your financial future, either.
I'm talking about the afterlife.
Life after the family.
When the kids grow up. They graduate high school. Then off to college, where they're halfway out of the house. Then they get the job. Then their first apartment. Meet their partner. Buy the house and have the babies. Trade in the sports car for the sport-utility vehicle.
Sound familiar?
What's left for you?
The occasional Sunday visit, and maybe an occasional request to babysit your new grandkids.
But yes, you're back to just the two of you. You and your spouse.
What then?
Very sadly, I've seen a growing number of aging baby-boomers filing for divorce, no longer feeling a connection to his or her partner after more than 20 or even 30 years of marriage.
Marriage and parenting aren't easy. Both require work from both parties or the divorce lawyers are on the phone.
Broken homes happen at any age. While you may have waited until the kids were grown up and moved away to call it quits, grandkids are still affected, and holidays involve time split between parents, and adult children possibly having to get used to another partner in their aging parent's life.
This is why it's important to stay connected, no matter how much the rigors of parenting get in the way.
Make time for a 'date night'. If not once a week, then once a month. It's important to have time away from your kids and focus on the person who helped you bring them into this world.
Find those common interests you had prior to marriage and kids. Rediscover them. Leave the kids behind...literally and figuratively.
Focus on being a team, rather than an individual.
Because after the kids move out, all you have is each other.
And that ain't bad.
Provided you've done your job right.
NEXT WEEK: Back to School
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