Jennifer Senior: For parents, happiness is a very high bar

runawaybunny

Administrator
Staff member
"The parenting section of the bookstore is overwhelming—it's "a giant, candy-colored monument to our collective panic," as writer Jennifer Senior puts it. Why is parenthood filled with so much anxiety? Because the goal of modern, middle-class parents—to raise happy children—is so elusive. In this honest talk, she offers some kinder and more achievable aims."


At the height of my daughter's gfgness I would not have listed my child's happiness as a parenting goal. I was more concerned that she keep herself safe and quit making self destructive choices.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
We are not in charge of our children's happiness, period. All we can do is give them to tools to make themselves happy. All children have to learn how to regulate their emotions, not just g'sfg.
I agree with you, that after many years, I gave up on not only trying to make my son happy, but on thinking that it was within his scope of existence without medications. After that, I just focused on keeping him alive and functioning. :)
 
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