Empty Nest

A lot of people including myself think of the empty nest stage of an adult's life is something that is depressing and lonely. I would think that having children leave would cause parents to feel useless since they are abandoning the job as a parent in order for their children to move on to their own lives. I have not thought about how the empty nest stage could actually help the couple fix their own relationship with each other again. Over time, some troubled marriages rebound, with spouses becoming happy again as they learn to understand and forgive each other (Fincham et al., 2007). This makes sense since couples no longer have to worry about the extra financial burdens that come along with raising a child. They also don't have to worry as much about the extra stress of conflicting emotions or views between the mother, father, and child. When the couple can focus on just one another again, which makes it easier to understand each other and forgive. They will be able to find out why they like each other so much and why they got together in the first place (Berger, 2011).  Plus they can look forward to the next part of their lives as their children have children and they approach retirement. 

Berger, Kathleen. (2011). The Developing Person Through the Life Span. New York, NY : Worth Publishers.