These reactions are not limited to parents whose children are leaving the nest or taking steps that will ultimately create a life structure of their own. Whenever a member of a system changes, the other members will feel a twinge. Children are bothered when divorced or widowed parents begin to date again. Siblings conspire to keep one another in line long after they have stopped living under the same roof. And, of course, partners in an intimate relationship react with alarm to unexpected changes in the other person.
