Re: your tagline. Forestalling the inevitable only makes it worse. Even a looming financial collapse should have a plan B.
Pretend that your Victory Garden is just a project.
When everything falls apart, all the effort we’ve put into Tom will suddenly become worthwhile: the family with the most bears wins.
Only 3 things get better with age:
Women,
Wine,
I’m not sure I remember the third one. I think it may be memory?
Anyway, problems are not on the list. Neither is bad news.