In the 'No Shit, Sherlock' News Category....

"An eight-year study of 218 couples found 90 percent experienced a decrease in marital satisfaction once the first child was born."



We needed scientists to tell us this?

But to me, here's an important statement in the report: "Scientists speculate that the problem is partly a modern one, because parents don't get as much help at home as they did in previous generations."

Amen to that one! For the human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker, we'll be relying on all the grandparents quite a bit this summer to manage the boy (and maintain my sanity). And don't even get me started on how...awkward it is to fill out various emergency contact forms for him. Yeah sure, perhaps if the husband and I were more social, we'd be able to put down neighbors or nearby friends as permitted emergency contacts for the boy, but...that just isn't the case. So we deal with it the best way we can.

Of course, for as much as I dog on how much hassle being a parent is, I have to say that I can't imagine what the husband and I would have done with ourselves over the past six years (well, we're almost to six years). I figure I'd still be working full time, probably teaching too. Indeed, the husband would probably be spending more time at the gym; me, I'd be there probably the same amount of time as I am now. We probably wouldn't be as stressed, although the FSM knows that my ability to find new sources of stress is legendary.

But it's not like we'd be traveling the world, going to concerts or other events, taking annual vacations or doing other such free-wheeling stuff. We didn't do that stuff before the boy arrived, and we're just not the type to do that anyway. The husband and I enjoy our quiet time, and we still get that--just in smaller amounts. And I guess I'm a bit of a masochist when I say that to some degree I enjoy the random craziness the boy brings to life. Y'know, what doesn't kill you and all that....

By the way, if you want to read the rest of the article about these scientists' amazing findings, check it out here.