Psychiatrists who work with older parents say that maturity can be an advantage in child raising--older parents are more thoughtful, use less physical discipline and spend more time with their children. But raising kids takes money and energy. Many older parents find themselves balancing their limited financial resources, decreasing energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child. Dying and leaving young children is probably the older parents' biggest, and often unspoken fear. "Having late-life children often means parents, particularly fathers, end up retiring much later. For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream." says Brandy Gabrielle, an economics professor. 

Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But he's also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but he's learned that young at heart doesn't mean young. Lately he's been taking afternoon naps to keep up his energy. "My body is aging," says Metcalf. "You can't get away from that." 

Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. "They worry they'll be mistaken for grandparents, or that they'll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school," says Joann Gals, a New York psychologist. But at the core of those little fears there is often a much bigger one: "that they won't be alive long enough to support and protect their children," she says. 

Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of pregnancy treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband, Randy, had twins. "We both wanted children," says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years -- a sense of family. Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are more involved in their lives. "The dads are older, more mature," says Dr. Silber, "and more ready to focus on parenting." QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What is Henry Metcalf's age?
2. Tell us how old Henry Metcalf is.
3. State the age of Henry Metcalf.
Q2:
1. What does Henry Metcalf do for a living?
2. What is Henry Metcalf's profession?
3. How is Henry Metcalf employed?
Q3:
1. What does raising children require?
2. What does it take to be a parent?
3. What is fundamental in order to raise children?
Q4:
1. What does Henry Metcalf worry more about than money?
2. What gives Henry Metcalf more cause for concern than having the funds to raise a child?
3. What is Henry Metcalf more nervous about than being financially well-off for his kids?
Q5:
1. What does Henry Metcalf ride with his fifth grader?
2. What do Henry Metcalf and his middle school aged son ride together?
3. What does Henry Metcalf go on rides for with his son?
Q6:
1. Is Henry Metcalf's son a lazy child?
2. Does Henry Metcalf have a couch potato for a son?
3. Is Henry Metcalf's son a rather inactive boy?
Q7:
1. What does Henry Metcalf do to keep his energy levels up?
2. What does Henry Metcalf to restore his energy?
3. What does Henry Metcalf take to have enough energy for his son?
Q8:
1. Who is Marilyn Nolen married to?
2. Who is Marilyn Nolen's son?
3. What's the name of the man married to Marilyn Nolen?
Q9:
1. How many children do Randy and Marilyn Nolen have?
2. How many kids are the Nolens parents to?
3. Randy and Marilyn Nolen are the parents of how many children?
Q10:
1. At what age did Marilyn Nolen give birth?
2. How old was Marilyn Nolen when she gave birth?
3. At what age did Marilyn Nolan have her children?
Q11:
1. Did Marilyn and Randy Nolen want children?
2. Did Marilyn Nolan get pregnant on purpose?
3. Were Marilyn and Randy Nolen's children purposefully conceived?
Q12:
1. What feeling did Marilyn and Randy Nolen get from their kids?
2. What sense did becoming parents give to Marilyn and Randy Nolen?
3. What did Randy and Marilyn Nolen feel like once their children were born?
Q13:
1. 
2. 
3. 
Q14:
1. Are the children of older men often smarter?
2. Do men who have children later in life tend to produce smarter kids?
3. Are the children of older fathers often more intelligent than their counterparts?
Q15:
1. Are the children of older men happier or sadder than their counterparts?
2. Are kids with older dads usually happier or sadder than their peers?
3. Do the children of men who become dads later in life tend to be happier or sadder than their peers?
Q16:
1. Are men who become dads later in life often more involved in their kids lives?
2. Do men who father children later in life get more involved in the lives of their children?
3. Do kids with older dads tend to have more fatherly involvement in their lives?
Q17:
1. What tends to be the biggest fear of older parents, that often goes unsaid?
2. What huge fear do older parents tend to have and not talk about?
3. What terror of older parents often goes unspoken?
Q18:
1. What dream can become unobtainable for older parents?
2. What can turn into an unobtainable dream for old parents?
3. What can people who become parents later in life simply never achieve?
Q19:
1. Who talked about the problem of retirement for older parents?
2. Who mentioned the issue of retirement when one becomes a parent later in life?
3. Who brought up the fear of never being able to retire for older parents?
Q20:
1. What is Brandy Gabrielle's job?
2. What does Brandy Gabrielle do for a living?
3. How is Brandy Gabrielle employed?
