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."

Answer the following questions:
1. How old is Henry Metcalf?
2. What's he do for a living?
3. What's it take to raise kids?
4. Instead of worrying about cash, though, what's he worried about giving out first?
5. What's he like to ride with his fifth grader?
6. Is his kid a couch potato?
7. What's Henry take to keep his energy up?
8. What's the name of Marilyn Nolan's husband?
9. How many kids do they have?
10. How old was Marilyn when she had them?
11. Did they want the kids?
12. What kind of sense did it give them?
13. When older dudes have kids, what's one of the things the kids tend to be?
14. Are kids with older dudes for fathers smarter?
15. Are they happier or sadder than other tykes?
16. Do their fathers get more involved in their lives?
17. What's an older's parent biggest, and often unspoken terror?
18. What turns into an unobtainable dream?
19. Who said this?
20. What's she do for a living?

Numbered answers:
1. 54
2. journalist
3. money
4. energy
5. bikes
6. no
7. afternoon naps
8. randy
9. Two
10. 55
11. yes
12. of family.
13. more ready to focus on parenting
14. yes
15. happier
16. yes
17. Dying and leaving young children
18. retirement
19. Brandy Gabrielle
20. an economics professor.