For most of human history, Gilbert said, happiness wasn’t much of a secret — everybody knew that happiness is just “what happens when you get what you want.”

Buddhists would disagree, and Buddhism is a very old philosophy.

It also seems from this article that he’s measuring WOMEN’S happiness in relation to children, not men’s. There’s a simpler explanation for that – what if sexism and its effects on parenting roles is what makes women unhappy? I think my partner enjoys his time with our son in part because I buy our son’s clothes, wash his clothes, make his lunch, make his dinner, take care of all the doctor’s appointments, do most of the daycare pick up and dropoff, do most of the diapering, stock the diaper basket/bag, dress him, grocery shop to make sure we have food for him, do most of the childcare, research preschools, stay home with him when he’s sick, make sure his shoes fit, take him on trips, pick up his play area, wash his dishes, etc. etc. etc., in addition to working full-time myself. A lot of my time spent with my son ends up being multitasking, transportation, or mealtime/diapers, and I’m not at all unusual in this. It’s not my son making me unhappy, it’s everything else I have to do and how tired I get and how little time I have to myself! Most women I know end up doing even more of the “work” part of childcare than I do, and mothers who stay home do almost all of it, without the variety, stimulation, and adult interaction that a job outside the home provides.

I hate to say this, but my immediate reaction was, “Only a man would decide it was the kid’s fault without thinking about ingrained power imbalances!” You want a situation? Let’s talk about the situation of ingrained gender roles and systemic power imbalances.