Jennifer Senior and the Paradox of Modern Parenthood

Do children bring unmitigated joy to the lives of their parents? Jennifer Senior is not so sure. She talks about the many ways children reshape their parents' lives, whether it's their marriages, their jobs, their habits, their hobbies, their friendships, or their internal senses of self. Senior argues that the roles of today's mothers and fathers are radically different from the way they were 50 years ago. Her book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood uses history, sociology, economics, psychology, philosophy, and anthropology to dissect old and new aspects of parenting.