Empty Nest Prevention Plan Starts Now!

I had the opportunity to present last weekend at the You & Me, We Conference at St. Petersbug College sponsored by Family Resources. There were a lot of interesting speakers presenting on issues relevant to couples and families. They offer this annually so you might want to put it on your calendar for next year. One of my presentations was on "Preparing for The Empty Nest." The bottom line is that the best way to avoid struggling with any serious adjustment issues as children get ready to fly the nest is by constantly practicing to stay well balanced and diversified throughout the child raising years. Couples who invest all of their time, energy and patience in the raising of children (which by the way, has only recently become a fullfledged career ) leave little or nothing for themselves and their other important interpersonal relationships. We have become a child obsessed, child dominated culture and our high rate of divorce reflects that, which is the antithesis of what children fundamentally require for healthy development. It is still true that the best legacy parents can give their children is to love themselves and then, to love each other. This type of healthy self respect and commitment to a meaningful, growing relationship will just naturally trickle down to children who also get to learn firsthand how to build their own stable, long term relationships.