There’s been talk on my purusing of social media if parents of young children are happy.

Having kids is hard. We went to the Ogden Nature Center last Saturday. It’s a great place with lots to do. But the kids struggled to walk even a half-mile. They’d complain that their legs hurt or just cry, and we carried Evie most of the time and Zack for some of the time. This part of parenting doesn’t have a lot of joy.

But then we would get to our destination: treehouses, playgrounds, ponds with birds. The kids would run off, their tired legs forgotten, and enjoy themselves immensely. And I got to join in that joy. A treehouse for an adult is not that fun, but with a child, it is magical. I’ll take the hard walks for those wonderful moments of happiness and joy at the end.