top of page

Dead Cats, Date Nights, and Delegating: Midlife Lessons from the Trenches

You know you’re deep into midlife when you can say with a straight face: “I didn’t bury the cat. I delegated it.”


Only in midlife: wrangling a dead cat in a clear plastic bag out of our retirement home on a Sunday, watching our badass teenager Madi handle life like a pro, and trying to carve out date nights and uninterrupted time in the most ordinary (and ridiculous) ways.


Welcome to our life.

This week on Middle Age Management, Bryan and I talk about:

  • Delegating the hard stuff. Sometimes that means asking your kid to retrieve the deceased family pet from a retirement home. Sometimes it’s cleaning gutters. Sometimes it’s just… marriage.

  • Date nights that aren’t date nights. Forget the Valentine’s-card version. Our “dates” look like: morning coffee before the kids wake up, carpool runs together, sitting side by side at a sports game, or grabbing a 20-minute dinner between shuttling teenagers. Not glamorous, but it works.

  • The royal “we.” As in, “We should clean the garage.” Spoiler: the “we” usually means Bryan.

  • Love languages in real life. Turns out acts of service sometimes just look like plugging in the car or buying the right beer.


It’s messy, it’s funny, it’s sometimes sad (pets don’t live forever), but it’s ours. And honestly? That’s what midlife marriage looks like: a little delegation, a lot of improvising, and finding connection in the cracks of everyday life.


👉 Tune in to the full episode of Middle Age Management [link] and laugh along with us. Because if we can find romance between dead cats and Costco runs, so can you.


You Don’t Have to Do This Alone

This journey is long, emotional, and often lonely—but it doesn’t have to be.

I’m here to walk it with you. Whether you’re just noticing the signs or knee-deep in decisions, there’s support for everystage.

How I can help you:

Book a 1-on-1 Guidance Session or a Care Chat with me at TheSandwichedGen.com. We’ll talk it through, map out a plan, and lighten the load.


📘 Want a clear step-by-step roadmap?

Get my eBook:When Roles Reverse: A Roadmap for Caring for Aging ParentsIt’s packed with practical tips to help you:

  • Know when and how to step in

  • Have hard conversations with less stress

  • Respect their independence while ensuring their care

  • Avoid the chaos of last-minute decisions

👉 Grab your copy here.

📲 And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @BarbaraStratte

I share daily encouragement, real-life tools, and truths you won’t find in a medical pamphlet.


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page