Parenting is one of the most important activities that many adults engage in. Through parenting, children are raised and taken care of in a protected environment until they are able to live independently. While the impact of parenting on children is in general positive, its effect on parents is debatable. There are claims that on average, parenthood makes individuals less happy than they were prior to having kids. In my opinion, this claim is true and Jennifer Senior, the author of All Joy No Fun, would agree with this assessment for a number of reasons.
To begin with, children use up a significant portion of the time resources of their parents. When the child is in his infant stage, he requires attention at all time. This causes strain on the parents who have to wake up at odd hours of the night to take care of the baby. Most individuals suffer from sleep deprivation during the early months of parenting. As the children get older, the time demands do not decrease. Parents are still expected to spend a significant amount of time playing with their children, teaching them, and taking care of them. As a result, the individual does not have enough time left to engage in his personal interests. Parents are therefore less happy since they do not have enough time to engage in activities that previously gave them pleasure.
In addition to this, raising children causes significant conflict among adults. These conflicts occur as the parents try to determine how they are going to go about the task of raising the children. There are disagreements over the role that each individual in the family will play in parenting. Differences might also occur over how to deal with the various issues that the children might face. This is especially evident during adolescence where parents have to regulate many of the children’s activities. The author agrees that the presence of children causes parents to fight frequently, and with more aggression. This fighting reduces the level of happiness in the individual.
Finally, parenting causes significant emotional pressure on the parents. This emotional strain is evident over the whole phase of parenting. When the parents bring forth a child, they have to adjust their lives to accommodate the child. The emotional demands imposed on parents are increased as they raise their children. The mother and father both experience significant anxiety over the well-being of the children. The author explains that most parents endure worry as they seek to provide the best life for their children.
From the discussions given in this paper, it is clear that children have a negative impact on the happiness of their parents. Individuals experience less happiness due to the time and emotional demands of children. Children also elevate the number and intensity of conflicts experienced in the family. It can therefore be concluded that on average, parenthood makes individuals less happy than they were prior to having kids.