Survey measures stress, laughter as parts of parenthood

It's the worst job in the world.

It's the best job in the world.

When it comes down to it, being a parent is all about living.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 45.1 percent of adults with children at home say they experience greater stress as a result -- as opposed to 36.8 percent who don't live with children.

At the same time, 84.1 percent living with children, compared to 79.6 percent without, say they smile or laugh a lot on any given day.

The findings are based on 131.159 interviews with American adults, aged 18 and older, including 36,043 adults who reported having a child under 18 living in the household.

Unfortunately, the survey seems to indicate that children do more to boost negative emotions than positive ones.

And, the stress burden seems to fall more on women, who report more stress than men on any given day, but both genders reported about eight points more stress than laughter each day.

It's true that parenting is tough, dealing with normal misbehavior, mealtime, household routines and homework and loss of sleep, as well as tough issues like special needs, eating disorders peer issues, substance abuse and self-injury.

And, issues such as separation or divorce complicate the issue greatly, especially for women.

But most of us like to remember moments of joy as children grow and learn, achieving growth and success as students, artists, athletes friends and citizens.

One question that wasn't included in the survey carries more weight with us.

How many people, at the end of their lives, would choose not to be surrounded by a loving group of children, grandchildren, spouses and extended family?

For most of us, looking forward to that future erases all the supposed stress-free life the questions in the survey suggest.