I left piano (about 3 years past J. Schaum book 5) for high school band, which had girls to watch and school paid road trips (including overnight football games, All State Band in Austin, and playing for the President one gig at the Astrodome). Then paying my way through college, I no time for hobbies, then I was very poor in the post-Viet Nam recession, lived in tiny rented houses etc. I bought a piano when I was 32 and in the Army. I started by buying the NY Public Library Scott Joplin ragtime book even before I had a piano, at church etc. Magnetic Rag, Paragon Rag, Maple Leaf Rag, are really good for building up your 4th and 5th fingers and getting you used to octave jumps. If you're not up to that level, the Belwin Ragtime Piano book 11414 has some simpler stuff. I also started on Movement 3 of the Moonlight sonata I'd done movement 1 age 11, and Pictures at an Exhibition, which was too hard but fun. Progress really speeded up on the latter two when I quit working age 58, and both are fairly compentent now.
In the "eat your beets" department, Mother ran me through the Schmitt exercises in the G Schirmer book, which did wonders for developing my skill at using the end fingers. Good for strength, too. I used to practice these while reading novels, like people watch TV now while riding the exercycle. Later the piano teacher ran me through the Edna Mae Berman finger exercises, then finally Czerny book one, which are good for piano tricks.
Seeing a pro teacher occasionally is useful in the beginning to learn the right posture and hand positions. If you do these wrong you get carple tunnel, etc, so it is important. I find classical I can listen to the record if I've got it wrong, so I don't need a teacher to point that out or pick classical repretoire anymore. Teacher's ideas of literature to study often don't line up with one's own, and I've been looking for 2 years for a jazz/standards/improv by playing ear coach, without success. Interesting there are Ragtime societies, not around here I don't think. I'm the only person I know doing ragtime, and that guy on TV at U Sou Ill who did the Ragtime Caberet TV show which I thought was interesting history but lame performance wise. His grand piano was so limp. I'm looking to buy a honky tonk upright: Scott Joplin sounds fine on a Steinway console but even better on a tinkly pre-depression upright. But they are so hard to move!
So work on your ear sklills, but don't forget reading charts and scores, you're not whole until you can to do both. When the kids get 4 or 5, involve him in the piano, it is great training to use the hands, and he/she might grow up to be a surgeon or something. Mother taught me the first couple of years until I got beyond her.
Have fun.