I have a two year old son, and he's great. We have a lot of fun together, but we also have some tough times. For instance, he was not really able to sit quietly at dinner last night. That's because he's two years old. It certainly would have been less stressful to leave him with a babysitter and have a quiet meal without milk spilling all over the place and constantly getting him to sit still.
Anyway, I saw a post on Matt Walsh's blog, and I think he hits the nail on the head, as he usually does.
All of the pain, sacrifice, and suffering of parenthood dismissed with a shrug and a sigh — “it might be tough sometimes” — and covered up in a layer of rainbows, puppies, sunshine, and gum drops. And lies. Because that what it is when you tell someone that having kids will make them happy: a lie. Kids won’t MAKE you happy. Nothing will MAKE you happy.
My own kids do not, in fact, make me happy. I love them to death. I am a proud father. I am honored that God gave them to me. I am overjoyed. I am in awe. I am in love. I am happy. But my kids do not MAKE me happy.
My kids don’t make my happiness. That isn’t their job. My happiness isn’t a responsibility that falls on their tiny little shoulders.
As usual, Matt is spot on. He goes on to make the point that being happy is a choice. It's a decision that we all make every day, and that's exactly right. The happiest people I know are happy simply because they decide to be.
This isn't to discount the fact that there are some people out there who just aren't "wired" to become parents. There are plenty of people I know who choose not to have children, or even get married. And they're happy people for the most part. The larger lesson is that happiness is a personal decision.
Children may not make you happy, but they can make you laugh harder than you've ever laughed before. There's a good chance that they will make you very happy in the long run... by giving you grandchildren!
ReplyDeleteI clicked over and read the whole thing, including the comments. Good stuff there.