Who's happier parents or adults without kids?

Recently a friend who I adore posted a link to an article that I do not agree with.  The article basically said that parents of young children are more depressed, angry and just not as happy as adults without children. The article went on to say it costs about $200,000 to raise a child, and it's not worth the investment.  So to sum up the article, it said that if you choose to have children, they will suck all the very life out you and take all your money and leave you a shriveled up ball of nothingness!!!  The day I read this article I was already having one of those days that I myself was wondering why I had children.  So after reading it, it only left me a little mad that, according to the world, I really was wasting my time and money.  

So let's try to figure out why people without kids would be happier than me.  First let's talk about a typical day in the life of someone without kids.   Get up take a shower, get dressed, if you’re lucky enough to be running on time, you eat breakfast while reading or watching the news, then you go to work driving through crazy traffic and road construction, then you deal with rude over bearing bosses who probably don't appreciate you or all the time you put in to making him look good.  You have all the office politics, crazy costumers and your in box is about a year behind.  Then, when your 8 to 10 hour work day is over, you go home and go to they gym, pay bills, run errands, do housework and more meetings.  Life isn't easy, and it isn't always "FUN"!! Sometimes life sucks, and you really just want to climb into bed and stay there.

Now for what could be my typical day as a stay-at-home mom. I get up at 6 am.  This is when the crying and whining begins.  They cry over what they have or don't have to wear,  They cry about waking up,  They cry over what cereal, what spoon or heaven forbid they get the wrong bowl. She cries over the fact that her brother is eating too loud and she can't think.  He cries that she is in his seat, and he never gets to sit by Dad.

 We try to make it through breakfast, and then we drop off the oldest to high school. Then more fighting and crying over not being able to watch TV or play on the Wii and then tattling on who ever woke up the baby.  Someone usually realizes at this point that he or she forgot about something due that day such as the science fair that is that morning, and we have to figure out how to squish a three month science experiment into two hours.   Then we drop off the junior high student and come home to more complaints about homework and whose turn it is to feed the dogs.  We then find the toddler’s missing gum in my daughter’s favorite shirt and the only shirt she could possibly wear.  Then in the last 5 minutes before the late bell rings we hurry to do hair, find the missing shoe and the homework that was on the kitchen table but now was abducted by aliens because it's nowhere to be found and grab the science experiment (entitled “How Sticky is Gum?”)!! 

If we are lucky, the kids get in the car with little to no crying and even better get out of the car with no threatening or loss of privileges.  It is now 8:45 AM!!   Should I go on to talk about the day of a toddler, the list of cleaning I never seem to get to because my kids are always needing something and the fact that kids can make a bigger mess faster than any human being can clean it up, or the after school to do list of karate, dance, piano and more life enriching experiences for my kids, homework, dinner, baths and try to get to bed before tomorrow morning?  At the end of my day, I didn't get to have a shower,  I've listened to Justin Beiber and the Wiggles and watched tv shows (if we are lucky to even have time to watch tv at all) like Suite life of Zack and Cody, Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse. 

You are now at intermission.  If you'd like to stop and take a break now would be a good time.  Maybe go potty or get some popcorn.  I'll wait here while you go. :)

I guess at the end of the day we are all tired.  None of us have enough time to do everything we wanted to or even needed to get done.  So I guess my new question is “What does bring us true and everlasting happiness?”  Is it whoever has the biggest cleanest house, the nicest car, went on the most vacations or simply who had the most "FUN" at the end of the day?

At the end of some days I'm tired!!! Very, very tired!!!  I've asked my hubby multiple times, “What in the heck were we thinking?!" Then I get a text from my teenager that says, "I love you!!" or my 5 year old says something that is so stinkin’ funny we all laugh ‘til we are crying, or my son or daughter comes up and gives me a hug and tells me about how awesome their science fair experiment turned out.  That's when I realize it's not about me!! It's all about them.  That's why I do what I do!! I do it for them. I do it so that one day I hope and pray that I will have raised a happy, well-adjusted, mature, independent adult who can then turn around and make this world a little bit better for those around them. 

That’s what being a Mom has taught me.  Being a parent is the perfect way to think of more than your own selfish desires.  Some of my favorite people are women without kids. Mother Teresa never had kids of her own, but I think she is the perfect example of unselfish Christ like service.  My hubby said," Everyone needs to learn to love others more than themselves.  They can only do this by sacrificing their own comforts and wishes for the benefit of others.  A family is just a perfect way to do this.  Learn to give more than you take from the world."  If you choose to have children or not, it's all about doing what you feel the Lord wants and even needs you to do.  Putting the Lord and His work first is the only way to be truly happy.

 A man who made a comment to the article I read said, "It all depends on your reward system doesn't it."  Well my reward system is this...  My sister recently became a grandma for the first time.  As I looked at the picture of my brother-in-law holding his first grandson, I could see it in his eyes.  I could see the happiness of years of stress and joy that got him to that moment.  It might seem sappy and something you'd only see on a chick flick, but that's why I do it.  I have said it before and I'll say it again.  I do it so that one day I will be able to sit in heaven with my amazing children, grandchildren and husband.  At that point, it won't matter that according to the world I spent (or even wasted)  1.4 million dollars to raise my 7 kids, or that I had a few days I wanted to pull my hair out and wanted to duct tape my children to their beds. At that point, I will be eternally blessed with a life that may not have been all "FUN" but filled with true happiness and I will have eternity to enjoy it.