It's obviously impossible to hypothesise on questions-not-asked but what feels like the huge missing data here is about levels of support from family, friends and community. Regardless of age, race, political leaning, etc how stressed parents are going to feel is likely to be highly correlated to the quality of their support network, whether that's through a faith organisation or just a solid group of local friends.
“when Christian parents go to church they seem to be less stressed and not so tired.”
It’s also easier to get to church during the stretches when there’s a little more gas in the tank. I wonder how much selection effect are at work?
(Anecdotally, they’re at work on me. For me, some of that’s whether my access to what’s supposed to be standard medical care these days is secure. When it’s not, my churchgoing is likely to be significantly interrupted sooner or later.)
I am a Dad of 2 kids. Probably the single best decision I ever made was having kids *because* it is exceedingly hard and what makes it hard is way more often not the children, but that most people get in their own own way of the radical changes towards a joyous life it brings. It's the mix of responsibility and living closely with people with a shared project called... life and existence as well as deeper confrontation with your self.
Maybe my wife is an awesome Mom and maybe I rose to the challenge of radically changing to be a decent Dad, but the vast majority of the time with the kids themselves has been the deepest joys and the invitation to the hardest won wisdom. I think a lot of people could use that connection and reminder of what it means to be human and a human child and having once been children, as well as the constant practice of responsiveness and commitment to another person or 3.
I was surprised at how positive parenting is perceived. I view my own parenting positively, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. Maybe I was subconsciously taking in the (false) narrative that everyone thinks parenting is a drag.
Considering how much people talk about convincing women specifically to have more kids, and the "second shift" phenomenon (where women end up doing more housework and childcare even when both parents are full-time employed), I'd be *really* interested in seeing these results broken down by gender.
Interesting yet raises the question as to what is meant by enjoyable?
With the passing of James Dobson & before, many noted the pain of being parented under his system of punishment to achieve compliance.
Is it more enjoyable to have compliant children?
Is it regrettable when those children are LGBTQIA?
Generally nebulous descriptors allow for many interpretations.
I would challenge any response endorsing an absolute option of either all or none without across any extended period of time.
It requires exploring what makes it either completely enjoyable or regrettable before attributing it to an equally nebulous descriptor such as religiousness v nonreligiousness. The parsing of Catholicism v Protestantism is a start requiring additional parsing of fundamentalism v progressivism.
It’s also a cultural phenomenon of even considering whether child rearing is enjoyable v regrettable. If one examines the history of child rearing, one finds that the expectation of progeny was present labor & future investment. I understand many God-fearing folk were taught that marital sex was not for enjoyment but for procreation. The Bible was interpreted as allowing no birth control ref Onan, with concubines available when wives weren’t.
It's obviously impossible to hypothesise on questions-not-asked but what feels like the huge missing data here is about levels of support from family, friends and community. Regardless of age, race, political leaning, etc how stressed parents are going to feel is likely to be highly correlated to the quality of their support network, whether that's through a faith organisation or just a solid group of local friends.
“when Christian parents go to church they seem to be less stressed and not so tired.”
It’s also easier to get to church during the stretches when there’s a little more gas in the tank. I wonder how much selection effect are at work?
(Anecdotally, they’re at work on me. For me, some of that’s whether my access to what’s supposed to be standard medical care these days is secure. When it’s not, my churchgoing is likely to be significantly interrupted sooner or later.)
Also compositional effects; I would expect parents of toddlers to be less likely than parents of older children to be regular in attendance.
I am a Dad of 2 kids. Probably the single best decision I ever made was having kids *because* it is exceedingly hard and what makes it hard is way more often not the children, but that most people get in their own own way of the radical changes towards a joyous life it brings. It's the mix of responsibility and living closely with people with a shared project called... life and existence as well as deeper confrontation with your self.
Maybe my wife is an awesome Mom and maybe I rose to the challenge of radically changing to be a decent Dad, but the vast majority of the time with the kids themselves has been the deepest joys and the invitation to the hardest won wisdom. I think a lot of people could use that connection and reminder of what it means to be human and a human child and having once been children, as well as the constant practice of responsiveness and commitment to another person or 3.
I was surprised at how positive parenting is perceived. I view my own parenting positively, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. Maybe I was subconsciously taking in the (false) narrative that everyone thinks parenting is a drag.
Considering how much people talk about convincing women specifically to have more kids, and the "second shift" phenomenon (where women end up doing more housework and childcare even when both parents are full-time employed), I'd be *really* interested in seeing these results broken down by gender.
Interesting yet raises the question as to what is meant by enjoyable?
With the passing of James Dobson & before, many noted the pain of being parented under his system of punishment to achieve compliance.
Is it more enjoyable to have compliant children?
Is it regrettable when those children are LGBTQIA?
Generally nebulous descriptors allow for many interpretations.
I would challenge any response endorsing an absolute option of either all or none without across any extended period of time.
It requires exploring what makes it either completely enjoyable or regrettable before attributing it to an equally nebulous descriptor such as religiousness v nonreligiousness. The parsing of Catholicism v Protestantism is a start requiring additional parsing of fundamentalism v progressivism.
It’s also a cultural phenomenon of even considering whether child rearing is enjoyable v regrettable. If one examines the history of child rearing, one finds that the expectation of progeny was present labor & future investment. I understand many God-fearing folk were taught that marital sex was not for enjoyment but for procreation. The Bible was interpreted as allowing no birth control ref Onan, with concubines available when wives weren’t.
So if the nones ie atheists, agonostics, etc are having fewer children maybe they are making themselves and their non-beliefs extinct over time !?
Surely you're aware that religion is not heritable...? Ryan's own data shows that most Nones were raised by parents no less religious than their grandparents and so on (https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/how-many-nones-are-exvangelicals).