parenting: all joy, no fun?

[jrtom]

http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/67024/

A really interesting and thought-provoking article that explores the different kinds of satisfaction that people get out of having kids, and some related topics.

Comments

[judovitch.livejournal.com]

While I agree with the article's major message - that kids are a lot of work, but worth it in the long term from a life-fulfillment point of view, I actually was kind of offended by the tone of many of the specific examples they gave throughout. That is, my kids are awesome, interesting *people* in their own right, and I enjoy our interactions immensely regardless of the fact that they're my kids. I mean, the ideas they come up with, the phrasings they use, the games they play are just a total hoot. Even the trouble they get in is endlessly diverting. Last night Rowan took six blueberry muffins and ate just the tip off each of them, and lined them up in a row on the table. It was a silly little thing, but it totally made me laugh. That sort of thing happens all the time, and I didn't see anything like that in the article.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think that the article was more of an exploration of the costs and benefits of parenting than something with a specific 'message' per se.

Of course there are a lot of things that kids (yours, mine, everyone's) do that are a lot of fun to witness and participate in, and certainly even some of the trouble they get into is funny. I can tell you, though, that there are parents that would completely flip over the incident that you describe. (I must admit that there are times that I'd be one of them...depending on what else had happened that evening.) I think that you're probably unusually laid-back as parents go (not basing it on this incident in particular, but just on a general knowledge of your personality).

Also, there are lots of kinds of satisfaction (joy, reward, pleasure, whatever) that people derive from having kids; I don't think that the article was trying to be comprehensive in that regard.