Family Life Cycle

Empty Nest: Launching Adult Children

The stage of launching adult children begins when your first child leaves home and ends with the "empty nest." When older children leave home, there are both positive and negative consequences. If your family has developed significant skills through the family life cycle, your children will be ready to leave home, ready to handle life's challenges. Free from the everyday demands of parenting, you may choose to rekindle your own marriage and possibly your career goals.

Developing adult relationships with your children is a key skill in this stage. You may be challenged to accept new members into your family through your children's marriages or relationships. You may focus on reprioritizing your life, forgiving those who have wronged you (maybe long ago), and assessing your beliefs about life.

If you have not moved through the phases with the appropriate tools and attitudes, you may not have taught your children needed skills to live well on their own. If you and your spouse have not transitioned together, you may no longer feel compatible with each other. Remember, however, that you can still obtain missed skills. Self-examination, education, and counseling can enhance your life and help ensure a healthy transition to the next phase.

This is a time when your health and energy levels may decline. Some people are diagnosed with chronic illnesses. Symptoms of these diseases can limit normal activities and even long-enjoyed pastimes. Health issues related to midlife may begin to occur and can include:

• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• Weight problems.
• Arthritis.
• Menopause.
• Osteoporosis.
• Heart disease (coronary artery disease).
• Depression.
• Stress-related illnesses.

You may also be caring for aging parents in this phase, which can be stressful and affect your own health.

Specific goals to attain at this stage include:

• Refocusing on your marriage without children.
• Developing adult relationships with your grown children.
• Realigning relationships to include in-laws and grandchildren when your children have begun their own families.

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Author:	Ralph Poore	Last Updated: March 6, 2007
Medical Review:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
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