“We enshrine things to memory very differently than we experience them in real time. The psychologist Daniel Kahneman has coined a couple of terms to make the distinction. He talks about the "experiencing self" versus the "remembering self.” — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“But here’s the thing,” says Paul. “I would bet that if someone did a study and asked, ‘Okay, your kid’s three, rank these aspects of your life in terms of enjoyment,’ and then, five years later, asked, ‘Tell me what… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“SOME OF THE HARDEST parts of parenting never change—like sleep deprivation, which, according to researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, can in some respects… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“Dying, in other words — like combat, like becoming a parent, like any transformative life event — doesn’t always reveal or intensify aspects of… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“Our stories may not always be pleasant as they’re being lived. They can in fact be just the opposite, acquiring a warm hue only… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“As parents, we sometimes mistakenly assume that things were always this way. They weren't. The modern family is just that - modern - and… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“More than almost anything else, the experience of parenthood exposes the gulf between our experiencing and remembering selves. Our experiencing selves tell researchers that… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“But the truth is, there's little even the most organized people can do to prepare themselves for having children. They can buy all the… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“THE SENTIMENTALIZATION OF CHILDHOOD has produced a great many paradoxes. The most curious, however, may be that children have acquired more and more stuff… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“In that same lecture, Kahneman confessed that the outsize power of the remembering self mystified him. “Why do we put so much weight on… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“But these gains in freedom for both men and women often seem like a triumph of subtraction rather than addition. Over time, writes Coontz,… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“He just has to step away from the moment to see it. Which isn’t surprising. Lots of parents will tell you that when they… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“One could simply say it’s a legitimate fear-response, a reasonable and deeply internalized reaction to a shrinking economic pie.” — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
“If one takes meaning into consideration, happiness might best be described as “a zest for life in all its complexity,” as Sissela Bok writes… — Jennifer Senior Copy Share Image
