Did you have things, when your kids were young, that you no longer have? We have talked to folks that had a powerboat when their kids were young, but once they left home for college, military, whatever, they got rid of the boat. There are also those that ended up selling their house and moving into a smaller house, after their kids left.
When my kids were young, I had energy, camping equipment, a backyard, a garage, and a guest room. I have none of those things at this point.
@D'Ellyn Dottir Nor kids. I never had any (on purpose), but raised my wife's sister and brother, whom we adopted when they lost both their parents. Diane was 10, Rick 16, so a number of years was involved. I've often wondered if raising someone else's kids is not even more difficult than one's own....... Frank
I don't have a house full of my children's stuff anymore. I don't have a pantry, freezer, or refrigerator filled with what kids love to eat anymore. I don't have the mountains of laundry I used to have while raising my kids. Now it is my children that have all those things...while I have the memories that I cherish.
@Frank Sanoica , good for you. I would think taking on kids at that age by adoption or fostering would be really tough.
@D'Ellyn Dottir Thanks. It wasn't any picnic. We were married two years at the time, my new wife was 20. Her father in a fit of madness killed her mother, and then himself. There were no other kin or relatives in the U.S., only my wife's father's brother, in Poland. We learned her father had been sending personal effects to his brother for months. Thus, taking in the kids was a given. The deaths were thought to have caused the ulcerative colitis which plagued Sue's brother Rick on and off, and it killed him on his 25th. birthday in 1975. It was the final straw. I truly loved that kid. Frank
Wow @Frank Sanoica, how traumatic for your wife and her siblings, and you. I'm so sorry you all went through that.