what i worry about are the parents who do NOT worry about their kids. something wrong with them!
Exactly!
xms - I might worry about my kids in a day-to-day TACTICAL sense, but I don't worry at all in a STRATEGIC sense. Whether they become PHDs or work in the drive-thru at McD's, they'll be just fine. Whether they marry "well" or marry psychos, they'll be just fine. No matter what life throws at them, or what stupid choices they make, God will be there to protect them, unless they reject Him outright.
My own life attests to this. Were I to tell you some of the stupid things I did in my youth, and tell you that your kids were going to do the same, you would probably get quite depressed. Yet here I am, financially well off, healthy, happily married for 20 years with two wonderful children. I shouldn't be here. This is what God does. And even if He didn't, my only real concern is Eternal; the rest is chump change. No, I do not worry.
You said it! The question isn't whether the children are good for the parents. The question is how good the parents are for the children. I'd like to see a study of how well the children of the "drained" parents succeed, compared to the children of parents who bear the burden lightly.