Is This Supposed to Be More Fun?

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When parenting feels like all work and no play, we may resignedly think "Well, that's the way it's supposed to be." But if you feel like parenting is more draining than fulfilling, there are ways to bring more presence, joy, and fun into the mix.

Amy and Margaret discuss:

• why having fun as a family usually means doing what kids think is fun, which is not the same as US having fun
• what psychologists say is required in order to have fun- and why those same things can be in short supply in our lives as parents
• the role of "flow" in fun, and whether eight hours of video games might start to have diminishing returns

Sometimes parenting isn't fun. The reasons for that aren't our fault, and losing the guilt that it's not all more fun can really help. On the other hand, if it's never fun, there might be some rearrangements of our family life that can occur... and we've got ideas on how to start.

Links!

• Jennifer Senior: All Joy And No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood
• Daniel Gilbert: Stumbling on Happiness
• Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi: Flow
• Arlie Hochschild: The Second Shift

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