What children can teach us about happiness

The How of Happiness. The Now of Happiness. The Tao of Happiness. Looking for Happiness. Map To Happiness. Finding Happiness. Authentic Happiness. True Happiness. The Happiness Hypothesis. The Happiness Plan. The Happiness Project. The Happiness Solution. The Happiness Diet. And my favorite, Eat Your Way To Happiness. Books on happiness are almost as popular as ones about teenage vampires in love. Yet, for those of us with small children, it's hard to find time to read an entire book (or rinse shampoo out of our hair). But here's the good news: we're surrounded by real-life examples of people who are successfully pursuing happiness each and every day. Yes. Young children are messy, loud, drippy and don't know how to wipe themselves. But, they're also pretty freakin' happy. And so, even though I don't have the time or energy to read a 250-page book, I have been watching my children. (I'm actually legally required to watch my children because I was told keeping a baby monitor turned up really, really high isn't proper parental supervision.) Here's why I think little kids are happiness experts.