Redefining The Relationship: Part I
29 Questions To Ask Your Empty Nest Partner
In the updated version of The Defining Decade, I added a chapter called “29 Conversations.” The conversations are ones for twentysomethings to have with their partners, before they move in together or get married or have a baby.
In that chapter, I made it clear that the real game-changer in a relationship isn’t moving in together or even marriage; it’s kids. Before kids, you and your partner are probably all about having fun, having brunch, having sex. After kids? Not so much.
If you’re reading this, you’re in the “after-after-kids” stage. Having the house to yourselves again is as big a shift as filling it with kids and kids’ toys. Some couples are excited to have fun together in old and new ways. Others struggle to figure who they’re going to be without the kids around. Still others decide that, without the kids, the marriage doesn’t have a point anymore.
It’s time to redefine the relationship. Just like you would want your twentysomething to be intentional about what’s ahead with their partner, walk the talk by being intentional about what’s ahead with yours–if you have one.
In no particular order, here are 29 conversations you might have about the next decade of life. If it’s any inspiration, I hear from twentysomethings all the time who say they had these conversations with their partners and fiances. If they can do you, you can do it!