Read All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood Online
Authors: Jennifer Senior
244
mono no aware
Gopnik,
The Philosophical Baby,
201.
244
“We
feed
children”
Lewis,
The Four Loves,
50.
244
“Christmas
eve,
beautiful
night”
Brené Brown, “The Price of Invulnerability,” live TEDxKC talk on August 12, 2010, posted October 10, 2012, available at: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxKC-Bren-Brown-The-Price-of.
245
She told the audience
Ibid.
245
Brown calls this feeling
Ibid.
245
“running
around
inside
someone
else’s
body”
Christopher Hitchens,
Hitch-22: A Memoir
(New York: Twelve Books, 2011), 338.
245
“Joy
is
grief
inside
out”
Vaillant,
Spiritual Evolution,
133.
248
“Duty
is
one
of
those
words
”
John Lanchester,
Family Romance: A Love Story
(New York: Putnam, 2007), 154.
249
“One
is
freed
of
the
constant
pressure”
Csikszentmihalyi,
Flow,
179.
249
“Set
thy
heart
upon
thy
work”
Bhagavad Gita, trans. Juan Mascaro, rev. ed., (New York : Penguin Classics, 2003), 2:47.
250
“I
didn
’t
have
children
because
I
wanted”
George Vaillant, interview with the author, March 23, 2011.
250
“Here’s what’s coming to mind”
Ibid.
251
“Suppose
there
were
an
experience
machine”
Robert Nozick,
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
(New York: Basic Books, 1974), 42.
251
“of
profound
connection
with
others
”
Robert Nozick,
Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), 117.
251
eudaimonia
See, for example, Sarah Broadie, “Aristotle and Contemporary Ethics,” in
The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle’s
Nicomachean Ethics, ed. Richard Kraut (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), 342.
251
“Children
are
a
reason
to
get
up
in
the
morning”
Robin Simon, interview with the author, April 4, 2011.
251
parents
are
much
less
likely
to
commit
suicide
Émile Durkheim,
Suicide: A Study in Sociology,
ed. George Simpson, trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson (New York: Free Press, 1979), 197–98.
252
“anomie” and “normlessness”
Ibid., 241 et seq.
252
“In
an
anomic
society,
people
can
do
as
they
please”
Jonathan Haidt,
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
(New York: Basic Books, 2006), 175.
252
“The
love
we
feel
for
children”
Gopnik,
The Philosophical Baby,
241.
253
parents
who
have
custody
of
their
children
Ranae J. Evenson and Robin W. Simon, “Clarifying the Relationship Between Parenthood and Depression,”
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
46 (December 2005): 355.
253
depression
surveys
often
ask
questions
See, for example, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a copy of which can be found in Center for Substance Abuse Treatment,
Managing Depressive Symptoms in Substance Abuse Clients During Early Recovery: Appendix B
(Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2008), available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64056.
253
“For
many,
the
lack
of
structure
of
those
hours”
Csikszentmihalyi,
Flow,
168.
254
“Sunday
neurosis”
Viktor Frankl,
Man’s Search for Meaning
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1992), 112.
254
“If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch”
Ibid., 110.
254
“a
zest
for
life
in
all
its
complexity”
Bok,
Exploring Happiness,
117.
254
“best
piece
of
poetrie”
Ben Jonson, “On My First Sonne” (c. 1603).
255
the “experiencing
self” versus
the “remembering
self”
Kahneman,
Thinking, Fast and Slow,
381.
256
can be deformed by a bad ending
Ibid.
256
in
a
2010
TED
lecture
Daniel Kahneman, “The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory,” TED Talk, February 2010, posted March 2010, available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html.
257
85
percent
of
all
parents
Pew Research Center, “As Marriage and Parenthood Drift Apart, Public Is Concerned About Social Impact,” July 1, 2007, available at: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2007/07/Pew-Marriage-report-6-28-for-web-display.pdf.
257
“Especially
things
like
reading
books
to
them”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, interview with the author, July 25, 2011.
258
“In
our
interviews,
there’s
a
section”
Dan P. McAdams, interview with the author, January 8, 2013.
258
Storytelling . . . is
our
natural
response
Kahneman, “The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory.”
258
remembering
selves
are
in
fact
who
we
are
Kahneman,
Thinking, Fast and Slow,
390.
258
“You
don’t
have
a
good
story”
Dan P. McAdams, interview with the author, January 8, 2013.
258
“I
think
this
boils
down
to
a
philosophical
question”
Quoted in Jennifer Senior, “All Joy and No Fun: Why Parents Hate Parenting,”
New York,
July 4, 2010.
259
“Highly
generative
adults . . . invest
considerable
time”
Dan P. McAdams, “The Redemptive Self: Generativity and the Stories Americans Live By,”
Research in Human Development
3 (2006): 93.
259
he
frequently
hears
from
fathers
Dan P. McAdams, interview with the author, January 8, 2013.
259
“the
redemptive
stories
our
mothers
tell”
Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas,
Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 11.
260
“
bring different
worlds
to
your
home”
Philip Cowan, interviews with the author, February 2, 2011, and March 10, 2011.
261
“It
comes
out
as, ‘I’ve
developed
a
story’ ”
Dan P. McAdams, interview with the author, January 8, 2013.
261
“the evaluator shouldn’t be the past generation”
Ibid.
261
“Noncalorie
chocolate”
Dan Gilbert, interview with the author, March 22, 2011.
261
the
helplessness
of
modern
American
parents
See, especially, Mead,
And Keep Your Powder Dry
.
263
“Having
found
myself
faced
with
that
old
bull-session
question”
Marjorie Williams, “Hit by Lightning: A Cancer Memoir,” in
The Woman at the Washington Zoo,
ed. Timothy Noah (New York: PublicAffairs, 2005), 321.
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.
Aassve, Arnstein, 82
abduction paranoia, 168–69
adolescence/adolescents
brain of, 208–12, 218
conflict and, 195–98, 207
as critical of parents, 194
culture and, 188, 212, 215–16, 238
dependency of, 212–18
“discovery” of, 187–88
“emerging adulthood” and, 214–15
excesses and, 223–26
independence and, 209, 211, 217, 218, 219
marital relations and, 48, 73, 201–8
paradox of modern, 216–17, 223
parents’ identification/experience with, 186–89, 224–33
personal preferences of, 196–98
power issues and, 193, 195, 220–23
privacy of, 189, 221–22
protection and support of, 12, 188–89, 213, 216, 217, 234–35, 238
rating of parents by, 194
regrets and, 226–33
relationships between same sex parent and, 198–99
as repeat of toddler years, 192–93, 195
risk and, 209–10, 212, 214
schools and, 214
surveillance/creeping on, 221–22
technology and, 216, 217, 218–23
transition of parents during, 185–90, 195–96
See also
specific topic
allowances, 128
Amato, Paul, 54
American Time Use Survey, 53, 122, 158
anxiety
boredom and, 32
child safety and, 168
deadlines and divided time and, 59–60
flow and, 32
and elusive goals of parenting, 138
legacies and, 262
overscheduled parents and, 123
as-if period, 213, 214–15
attachment parenting, 111, 136, 151, 242–43.
See also
bonding; connection
attention: flow and divided, 34–40
authority, parental, 129, 192
autonomy
adolescence and, 196, 209
and balancing professional and family obligations, 40–44
and definition of liberty, 43
early years of parenting and, 17–18
flow and, 28–34, 237
as freedom from obligations, 249
and professional ambitions, 40–44
sleep needs and, 20–23
women’s movement and, 42–43
baby products, 154
Baumeister, Roy F., 22–23
Bettelheim, Bruno, 216
Beyoncé, 197–98
Bianchi, Suzanne, 158–59
Blake, William, 102, 244
blogs, parenting, 189
Bok, Sissela, 241, 254
Bombeck, Erma, 9, 17
bonding, 111, 112, 243, 252, 253, 265.
See also
attachment parenting; connection
Bonnet, Michael H., 22
boredom, 32–33, 34, 166–67
Borgmann, Albert, 105
Boy Scouts, 129–30, 170–71
Bradbury, Thomas, 203–4
brain, 26–28, 106, 208–12, 218
Brazelton, T. Berry, 151, 175
Bronfenbrenner, Urie, 69
Brown, Brené, 198, 244–45
Burgard, Sarah A., 55
Cantwell, Mary, 237
Casey, B.J., 209–10, 211
cell phones, 219, 221, 223
Cherlin, Andrew, 42, 43
child care, 57, 58, 67, 81, 82, 89–90, 122, 149–50, 151, 161–62.
See also
household labor
Child Care Aware of America, 83
child labor, 9, 127–28, 214
children
in the age of globalization, 131–44
as always changing, 106–10
balancing among several, 172–73
decline in number of, 122
as “economically worthless but emotionally priceless,” 126–31
as high-cost/high-reward, 6, 12–13, 143
historical views of, 126–28, 213–14
indoor, 162–71
isolation of, 165
as living in permanent present, 27–28, 100
overscheduled, 119–26, 165–66
protection and support of, 9–10, 12, 167–68, 188–89, 213, 216, 217, 234–35, 238
school as primary job of, 128
self-esteem of, 176
sentimentalization of, 164, 167
sexual abuse of, 168
as superegos, 261
as vulnerable and innocent, 127
See also
specific topic
Christensen, Andrew, 204, 205–6
Chua, Amy, 133, 147, 176–77
Chudacoff, Howard, 164, 216
college
admissions to, 133
as preparation for motherhood, 152
college-educated women, 19, 144
community.
See
neighbors/neighborhoods
concerted cultivation
in the age of globalization, 131–44
child safety and, 122, 167–69, 238
and creating happy children, 171–77
definition of, 120
electronic media and, 122, 169–71, 238
homework and, 177–81
indoor children and, 162–71
overscheduled parents and, 119–26
overview about, 237–38
pressures on mothers and, 144–59
conflict
adolescence and, 195–98, 207
in marriage, 49–50, 54
between mothers and daughters, 198
Conley, Dalton, 37, 38
connections, 201, 242–44, 245, 251, 253, 263.
See also
attachment parenting; bonding
“consumer parenting,” 91
Coontz, Stephanie, 42, 43, 66
Correll, Shelley, 143
Cowan, Carolyn, 48–49, 54, 56, 60, 85, 92
Cowan, Philip, 48–49, 54, 56, 85, 89, 92, 259, 260
Crawford, Matthew B., 104, 105, 106
“cry-it-out” method, 86–88, 136
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, 30–32, 33–34, 107, 249, 253–54, 257
Cub Scouts, 117–19, 129–30, 177, 179
Cummings, E. Mark, 49
Cunningham, Michael, 79
Czerwinski, Mary, 37
Darling, Nancy, 166–67, 196–97, 207, 210, 221, 239, 259, 260
dating, adolescent, 205
Davila, Joanne, 193
day care, 83, 168
Deaton, Angus, 6
Dederer, Claire, 155
depression, 230, 253, 254, 261
Descartes, René, 108
Dinges, David, 21
discipline issues, 10, 67–71, 207
division of labor.
See
household labor
divorce, 49, 158, 198, 205, 232
Dobbs, David, 212
Doherty, William, 6, 12, 72–73, 91, 119, 238
domestic scientists, women as, 153–54
Druckerman, Pamela, 69–70, 91
Duke University Talent Identification Program, 134
duty: parenting as, 247–54
Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), 15–17, 19
Edin, Kathryn, 259–60
“ego depletion,” 22
electronic media.
See
technology
“emerging adulthood,” 214–15
Emory University: obedience study at, 69
Ephron, Nora, 137–38, 185
Erikson, Erik, 229, 230, 235, 259, 260
excess
adolescence and, 223–26
young children and, 23–28
“experience machine,” 250–51
Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 30–31, 33–34
“experiencing self,” 255–56, 258
Facebook, 217, 220–21
fairness, 54–55, 56, 57, 79, 88, 89, 234
Families and Work Institute, 159–60, 181
family planning, 7–8
fathers
adolescence and, 205, 207
and “autumnal” relationship with sons, 136
and change in experience of parenting, 8, 9
concerted cultivation and, 122, 149
discipline responsibilities of, 207
divided time and, 58
and division of household labor, 53
happiness of, 4, 5, 71
and how much time parents spend with children, 181
narratives of, 259
obedience issues and, 70–71
social isolation of, 63–64
Fink, Kathryn, 61
flow
and absence of feeling, 30
autonomy and, 28–34, 237
boredom and, 32–33, 34
characteristics of, 31
definition of, 30
happiness and, 31, 34
measurement of, 30–31
multitasking and, 35–36, 37, 38
rules and, 31, 33, 34
solitude and, 33
work and, 33–40
France, 83, 91–92
Frankl, Viktor, 254
freedom;
See
autonomy
Freud, Sigmund, 102, 242, 261
Friedan, Betty, 152–53, 154
Friedman, Tom, 138–39
Gagliardi, Annette, 31, 65
Galinsky, Ellen, 160, 181, 194, 224
Giedd, Jay, 213
Giffords, Gabrielle, 156
gift-love, 111–12, 113
“gift of service,” 180
Gilbert, Daniel, 27, 32–33, 71, 261
Gilovich, Tom, 258
globalization and children, 131–44
Gopnik, Alison, 26, 31, 101, 106–7, 112, 114, 212, 244, 249, 252–53
government: role in parenting of, 81–83, 92
Grant Study, 242
Groves, Ernest, 174–75
guilt, 38, 75, 78, 86, 87–88, 89, 90–91, 168, 264
Haidt, Jonathan, 252
Hall, Stanley, 187, 188
happiness
burden of, 171–77
as by-product, 251
complexity of studies about parenting and, 157–58
definition of, 240–41, 243, 254
and division of household labor, 57
as doing, 251, 254
duty and, 250
and early years of parenting, 17–18
expectations of, 248
and “experience machine” experiment, 251
fairness and, 234
flow and, 31, 34
fun differentiated from, 238–39
and gap between fathers and mothers, 71
and goals of parenting, 234, 238, 251
and government role in parenting, 81–83
marriage and, 57, 72, 203
measuring, 241
of parents, 4–6, 48, 158, 194, 238, 253
remembering self and, 256–57, 258
Simon’s studies of parenting and, 238–39, 253
of single parents, 48, 158, 253
sleep and, 21
working mothers and, 5
Harvard University, 10, 27, 69
“having it all,” 41
Hays, Sharon, 151, 155, 175, 245, 246, 249, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265
Head Start, 69
Hitchens, Christopher, 245
Hochschild, Arlie Russell, 53–54, 89, 158
Hofer, Barbara, 223
Holt, Evan, 54
Holt, Nancy, 54
homework, 128, 177–81
household labor
and change in experience of parenting, 8
division of, 8, 50–57, 80–81, 237
and women as domestic scientists, 153–54
Hulbert, Ann, 151–52, 174
hyperparenting, 119–26
Institute for American Values, 48
Internet.
See
technology
Ito, Mimi, 171, 219, 220
Jong, Erica, 155
joy
as connection, 242–44, 245
fear and, 244–45
“forboding,” 245
Kagan, Jerome, 7–8, 176, 180
Kahneman, Daniel, 5, 21, 83, 255, 256, 258
Kaiser Family Foundation, 170
Karolyi, Bela, 121
Kaufman, Sue, 155
Kefalas, Maria, 259–60
Kettering Medical Center (Dayton), 22
Killingsworth, Matthew, 5–6
kindergartners: obedience of, 69
Kolod, Todd, 28, 71, 74
Konner, Melvin, 15
Kuhn, Peter, 144
Kumon (after-school enrichment program), 146
Kundera, Milan, 98
Lanchester, John, 248
Lareau, Annette, 119–20, 124, 129, 144, 149–50, 166, 167, 181
Leach, Penelope, 175
LeMasters, E.E., 47
lesbian couples, 49, 60
Lewis, C.S., 99, 111, 113, 244, 245
Lewis, Michael, 91
life-redemption narratives, 259–60
“little adult” problem, 28
Louis C.K., 9
love
attachment and, 242–43
caring and, 112, 249
duty and, 248, 250
gift-, 111–12, 113, 244, 265
need-, 111–12
and stages of adulthood, 229
Lozano, Fernando, 144
Mansbach, Adam, 55–56
marriage
adolescence and, 48, 201–8
age at first, 42
conflict in, 49–50, 54
and division of household labor, 50–57, 237
expectations for, 41–44, 72
fairness and, 54–55, 56, 57, 79, 88, 89
gratitude in, 89
happiness/satisfaction in, 47–49, 57, 72, 203, 205
as public institution, 71–72
redefining attitudes in, 93
sex and, 50, 71–76, 203
social isolation and, 61–67
“soul mates” and, 72
Martin, Edward Sandford, 117
Matthews, Gareth B., 59–60, 108, 109–10
Mattingly, Marybeth, 59
McAdams, Dan P., 258, 259, 260–61
McHale, Susan, 205
Mead, Margaret, 134–36, 137, 138, 139, 176, 213, 261–62
Meetup, 61
Meyer, David E., 38
midlife rumination scale, 226–27
midlife crisis, 187, 207–8
Mintz, Steven, 126–27, 137, 165, 168, 213, 215, 218, 225
Missouri City, Texas, 162–63, 169, 171–72.
“mommy mystique,” 159
Montgomery-Downs, Hawley, 22
Motherlode (blog), 175
mothers
adolescence and, 207
concerted cultivation and, 122
daughters’ conflict with, 198
discipline responsibilities of, 207
empty nest, 5
happiness of, 4–5, 71
high standards for, 144–59
and how much time parents spend with children, 181
and “intensive mothering,” 155
as nags, 68, 150
“pressure points” of, 150
as primary caretakers, 149–50
social isolation of, 61–64
wage gap between childless women and, 143
multitasking, 3, 35–36, 37, 38, 58, 159
narratives: identity, 259–61
National Institute of Mental Health, 213
National Marriage Project, 19
National Vital Statistics, 19
need-love, 111–12
neighbors/neighborhoods, 64–66, 160–61, 252
nocturnal caregiving, 55–56, 162
normlessness, 7, 252
Nozick, Robert, 250–51
Obama, Barack, 45
Ondaatje, Michael, 95
overscheduled parents, 119–26, 167
parents/parenting
children’s rating of, 194
cultivation as primary obligation of, 135–38
deferring of, 19