Are You Happier After Having Kids? Let’s Be Honest

The Question Nobody Dares to Answer Honestly

Well, here we go. One of those questions that can get you side-eyed at a family barbecue or awkwardly unfriended in a parenting forum. “Are you happier after having kids?”

Short answer? It depends.

Long answer? A whole rollercoaster of emotions, expectations, identity crises, magic moments… and sleep deprivation that’ll make you hallucinate.

Honestly, I wasn’t even planning to write about this until last week when my friend Olivia (mom of twins, bless her) looked me dead in the eye over coffee and whispered: “Sometimes I miss my old life.”

And you know what? Me too.

The Science: What Do Studies Say About Parenting and Happiness?

Spoiler alert: the data is mixed

There’s no single answer that fits everyone. Some studies say parents are less happy, some say more, and some just throw their hands in the air like “who even knows anymore?”

A 2010 study from Princeton found that parents report lower daily happiness compared to non-parents. But—and this is important—those same parents also reported higher levels of life meaning. So basically: less joy, more purpose. 🤷

But then, you have data from countries like Denmark, where parents are happier than their child-free peers—mainly because, well, support systems exist. Free childcare, generous leave, societal respect for parents… stuff that matters more than we think.

The Real Life Shift: What Changes After Kids?

Everything. Literally everything.

Let’s not sugarcoat it. You lose time. Freedom. Spontaneity. Long showers. The ability to do anything uninterrupted. (I'm not joking—I once had to answer a work call while wiping applesauce off my ceiling. Don’t ask.)

But you also gain… something else. Something weirdly hard to describe.

One night, my toddler crawled into bed, put his tiny hand on my cheek, and said, “I like your face.” That moment? That was pure gold. Didn’t cancel out the exhaustion, but it did remind me why I keep showing up.

Identity and mental health: tricky terrain

I’ll be honest: I lost myself a bit after becoming a parent. There were days I looked in the mirror and thought, “Who even is this person?” No career moves, no parties, no real conversations—just diapers, dishes, and Cocomelon songs looping in my head.

But over time, I found new parts of myself too. More patient. More fierce. Definitely more organized (except my inbox, that’s still chaos). You change. You really do.

Are You Supposed to Be Happier?

That’s the trap, right? This idea that having kids should bring automatic joy like some spiritual vending machine. Pop one out—ding!—eternal happiness.

But the truth is way messier. And that’s okay.

You can love your kids more than anything and still feel crushed by the weight of parenting. You can laugh with them all morning and still cry in the bathroom at night. That’s not failure. That’s just being human.

So… Am I Happier?

Okay. Deep breath. Am I happier after having kids?

Honestly… yes, but not in the way I expected.

I’m not happier every day. My baseline mood? Sometimes it’s grumpy, tired, annoyed. But my capacity for joy? That’s deeper. It’s not so much about daily happiness—it’s about this overwhelming, sometimes terrifying, sometimes blissful sense that life is bigger now.

Like I’ve plugged into something ancient and wild and beautiful. Even if that thing screams at me because I gave them the wrong color cup.

Final Thoughts: Your Happiness Is Still Yours

Whether you’re a parent, thinking about it, or happily child-free—your happiness matters. Kids won’t magically fix your life. They’ll blow it up and rebuild it into something totally different.

If that’s what you want? Amazing. If not? Also amazing.

Just don’t let anyone—society, your in-laws, some annoying influencer—tell you how you’re supposed to feel. Only you get to decide what makes your life joyful. And maybe that’s the most grown-up truth of all.

Is 165 cm normal for a 15 year old?

The predicted height for a female, based on your parents heights, is 155 to 165cm. Most 15 year old girls are nearly done growing. I was too. It's a very normal height for a girl.

Is 160 cm too tall for a 12 year old?

How Tall Should a 12 Year Old Be? We can only speak to national average heights here in North America, whereby, a 12 year old girl would be between 137 cm to 162 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/3 feet). A 12 year old boy should be between 137 cm to 160 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/4 feet).

How tall is a average 15 year old?

Average Height to Weight for Teenage Boys - 13 to 20 Years

How to get taller at 18?

Staying physically active is even more essential from childhood to grow and improve overall health. But taking it up even in adulthood can help you add a few inches to your height. Strength-building exercises, yoga, jumping rope, and biking all can help to increase your flexibility and grow a few inches taller.

Is 5.7 a good height for a 15 year old boy?

Generally speaking, the average height for 15 year olds girls is 62.9 inches (or 159.7 cm). On the other hand, teen boys at the age of 15 have a much higher average height, which is 67.0 inches (or 170.1 cm).

Can you grow between 16 and 18?

Most girls stop growing taller by age 14 or 15. However, after their early teenage growth spurt, boys continue gaining height at a gradual pace until around 18. Note that some kids will stop growing earlier and others may keep growing a year or two more.

Can you grow 1 cm after 17?

Even with a healthy diet, most people's height won't increase after age 18 to 20. The graph below shows the rate of growth from birth to age 20. As you can see, the growth lines fall to zero between ages 18 and 20 ( 7 , 8 ). The reason why your height stops increasing is your bones, specifically your growth plates.