By B.J. Roche

We didn't realize it at the time, but my late mother-in-law gave her children a great gift by moving every so often in the last two decades of her life.

Each time she moved, she got rid of about half her stuff, so that, by the time she died, there was very little crap to deal with. What a relief! I took that as a lesson that, if we don't want our kids to hate us, as we get older, it's a good idea to clean out from time to time. Boston Globe writer Dave Mehegan reminds us of this fact in a very nice essay today.

And if you're thinking about your job--or lack of it--in the coming year, here's a great post by former journalist Mary Ann Hogan about navigating the changes.

Here's a taste:

According to the authors and "Generationalists" William Strauss and Neil Howe, we (aging Boomers) are not "too old for the marketplace." We are, rather, on the verge of greatness, of Prophet-hood: "A Prophet generation grows up as increasingly indulged post-Crisis children, comes of age as the narcissistic young crusaders of an Awakening, cultivates principle as moralistic mid-lifers, and emerges as wise elders guiding the next Crisis. (Boomers -- indulged, narcissistic, moralistic, wise...)"

Finally, on today's web-reading list is a piece from the Wall Street Journal on how to have a healthy midlife crisis. Now they tell me.