Nonfiction by Jennifer Senior.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This was an interesting book. As the author points out, there is lots of attention given to the effect parents have on their children, but not much thought about the effect of children on parents. Parenting is the best and most wonderful thing you can ever do, right? That's what we are told, anyways. But...
A recent study showed that people without children are significantly happier than people with children. Why is that? Because kids make you miserable? Well, sort of.
This book explores the idea of parenthood as a "high-risk/high-return" proposition. It's basically the whole, "Parenting is really hard, but it's also rewarding," idea. This is of course not a new thought; however, acknowledging this truth can free us from the unnecessary guilt. Although we love our kids, we just don't LOVE EVERY MOMENT with our kids. Or even most of the moments, really. It's something that everyone feels and no one mentions, because we're thinking we're the only one who gets annoyed, or angry, or frustrated by the constant demands of our children.
It's nice for someone to just say, "Hey, it's tough to be a mom. It's not really that fun most of the time. And that's okay. It's worth it."
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