Why Couples With Kids Are So Dang Happy

Couples without kids are probably so much happier than couples with kids. After all, couples without kids have fewer financial constraints, fewer responsibilities and more time to themselves. Plus, waking up to change diapers in the middle of the night must make coupled parents totally miserable, right? Why 'Having It All' Doesn't Have To Mean Having Kids

That's what we thought, too. But as it turns out, couples without kids are not any happier than couples with kids ... at least according to our survey. We asked 101 YourTango Experts the following question:

More from YourTango: Rielle Hunter Is Wrong

Agree or disagree: Couples without kids are happier than couples with kids.

A whopping majority — 80%, in fact —said that they disagree with that statement. Naturally, it made us wonder: What makes couples with kids so dang happy? We asked our experts, and here's what they had to say:

1. Couples with kids have imagination. While couples without kids can travel the world without diapers and strollers in tow, couples with kids can listen to their children's dreams at home. In both their nighttime and daytime dreams, children fly to far-off planets, encounter friendly dinosaurs and speak to characters in languages very different than those heard in their parents' everyday real world. Having kids is a great way to be a part of a larger universe filled with freedom; the world of our dreams and imagination. —Mary Alice Long

2. Couples with kids get down and dirty ... and love it! Couples without kids can afford to buy the latest fashions, a new car each year and a home in the suburbs; couples with kids can get messy, down and dirty. From playing with finger-painting and water, digging a hole to China, to stomping in the mud during a rain storm, having kids is a great way to get back to essentials and simple exuberance in the moment of play! —Mary Alice Long

For a limited time only, receive a copy of our eBook "Love After Kids" (a $5 value) — yours free when you sign up for YourTango's daily newsletter!

More from YourTango: Is MySpace YourSpace?

Want to learn more? Tune in now through Sept. 17 for the YourTango Experts intensive event, Love After Kids, featuring all kinds of advice and insights from our experts about the unique challenges of coparenting in the digital age.

More couple advice from YourTango:

• What Happy Couples Have In Common [VIDEO]
• Survey Reveals The Real Reason Couples Get Divorced
• 10 Things Happy Couples Talk About