Dennis Prager Show - Timeless Wisdom: Male/Female Hour - Children Plus or Minus
Aired: 2026-03-11
Duration: 39:09


=== Saving the Child or Stranger (09:20) ===

[00:00:00]  Your dog and a stranger are drowning.
[00:00:02]  You can only save one.
[00:00:04]  Who do you choose?
[00:00:04]  Dennis Prager says your answer reveals everything about how you define right and wrong.
[00:00:09]  In his new book, If There Is No God, Prager exposes the danger of emotion-based morality and why, without objective truth, society descends into chaos.
[00:00:19]  This isn't a religious book, it's a rational case for moral clarity in a confused age.
[00:00:25]  If There Is No God from Dennis Prager.
[00:00:27]  Order now at PragerStore.com.
[00:00:30]  Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:00:34]  Here are thousands of hours of Dennis' lectures, courses, and classic radio programs.
[00:00:38]  And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com.
[00:00:50]  Yes, yes, yes.
[00:00:51]  Go on, go on.
[00:00:53]  I can't tell you how much I would like to interview Dr. Fussbend.
[00:00:58]  We all have dreams.
[00:01:00]  That's one of mine.
[00:01:03]  But alas, Dr. Fussbend is a movie character.
[00:01:11]  And one cannot interview movie characters unless one writes the characters' lines, in which case you're interviewing yourself.
[00:01:20]  Hi, everybody.
[00:01:21]  The male-female hour every Wednesday.
[00:01:24]  Nice to have it back.
[00:01:26]  I think the last two Wednesdays, is that right?
[00:01:28]  Last two Wednesdays, I had substitute hosts.
[00:01:32]  I had those days off for intense reasons.
[00:01:36]  I mean, not bad reasons, just usually involving cross-country travel.
[00:01:44]  Anyway, I do take days off periodically.
[00:01:52]  All right.
[00:01:52]  This is the male-female hour, and it is the most honest talk about men and women and their relationships, I think, in American media.
[00:02:02]  It is honest for many reasons.
[00:02:04]  One, I have very little difficulty in talking about very sensitive issues.
[00:02:09]  Number two, I'm not a man fan or a woman fan.
[00:02:13]  I'm a good person fan.
[00:02:16]  And the world has been made that for every male jerk, there's a female jerk, and vice versa.
[00:02:24]  I think the numbers are quite equivalent.
[00:02:28]  I never for a minute bought the nonsense that one sex was superior to the other.
[00:02:35]  They are superior in certain ways, innately, in many regards, or in some regards.
[00:02:42]  That, by the way, would be an interesting subject for a male-female hour.
[00:02:46]  Are there ways in which men are more suited for things and likewise women?
[00:02:53]  But that's not today's subject.
[00:02:55]  Today's subject is a very difficult one, emotionally difficult.
[00:03:02]  It's not intellectually difficult, but I will learn a great deal from your calls, as is very often the case.
[00:03:12]  And that is, here is the question: In your life, I don't want you to discuss this in the macro.
[00:03:22]  I want you to discuss this in the micro, specifically you.
[00:03:29]  Have your children been a net asset to the happiness of your marriage?
[00:03:38]  A net deficit, or no effect negatively or positively?
[00:03:49]  I'm not talking about your life.
[00:03:51]  I'm talking about your marriage.
[00:03:54]  Have your children made your marriage better?
[00:03:58]  Have your children made your marriage more difficult?
[00:04:02]  Have your children had no effect in either direction or equally in both?
[00:04:08]  That's what I am curious to hear from you.
[00:04:12]  1-8 Prager 776-877-243-77776.
[00:04:19]  I'll give you one example while you're calling in.
[00:04:23]  I will give you an example of a challenge that a child presents to a couple immediately upon birth.
[00:04:38]  I would love to see data on sexual frequency post-the child and pre-the child.
[00:04:50]  And I say I would like to see the data implies that I think the data would suggest that it was less frequent.
[00:05:01]  Now, there are many ways to have joy in life.
[00:05:05]  Sexual joy is certainly one of them.
[00:05:09]  But there is also, there are other joys.
[00:05:13]  And in this instance, the joy of the arrival of the child, if it does in fact decrease the frequency, might well be a worthy compensation.
[00:05:26]  If somebody said to you in advance, you will go from X times a month or a week or a day to Y times or X minus Y times, but you will have a child as something in your life, most people would sign on.
[00:05:55]  By the way, to not everybody does this happen, the diminished frequency as a result of the child's arrival, but it usually does.
[00:06:04]  I have a line about that.
[00:06:06]  That which was created by passion then diminishes it.
[00:06:14]  But there are competing goods in life, and mature people become aware of that.
[00:06:24]  Another area is you, as soon as the child arrives, your freedoms are curtailed.
[00:06:33]  You can't travel as much.
[00:06:36]  You can't dine out as much.
[00:06:39]  You can't sleep as much.
[00:06:42]  On the other hand, you have a child.
[00:06:47]  You have a family.
[00:06:50]  You are doing one of the most profound things a human can do in life.
[00:06:55]  Raise a human being.
[00:06:59]  Is that worth fewer dinners, less sleep?
[00:07:06]  I think it is.
[00:07:10]  However, sometimes children, not at the beginning, but when they grow up, and they could be a source of pain in a marriage.
[00:07:26]  And I don't only mean the ones that are difficult, just the difficult child for whatever reason, or a child that gets hooked on drugs or alcohol or some other addiction.
[00:07:40]  I'm talking about families with a child with special needs.
[00:07:47]  That could have an effect on your marriage, Especially if it's accompanied by financial challenges.
[00:07:58]  On the other hand, which is the whole point of this hour, there are many hands here.
[00:08:03]  On the other hand, a child can be a source of extraordinary fulfillment and joy in one's life.
[00:08:15]  One should not look to children to be the source of joy in their lives.
[00:08:22]  That is too big a burden to place on a child.
[00:08:26]  But there's no denying that that is a possibility.
[00:08:32]  One of the problems of our age is that it has become the age of anti-wisdom.
[00:08:42]  There's no wisdom taught.
[00:08:45]  Our schools are devoid of wisdom.
[00:08:49]  Most of the time, it's fools teaching children.
[00:08:53]  It's very sad for me to say there's no joy in it.
[00:09:00]  And one of the non-wisdom items of life, subjects of life, is that everything has a price, and that if you ask what is the price, you will lead a much wiser and therefore happier life.

=== Everything Has a Price (15:28) ===

[00:09:20]  The only time we ever ask what is the price is when we're buying something.
[00:09:26]  Right?
[00:09:27]  How much is it?
[00:09:29]  We should ask how much is it about everything?
[00:09:33]  What is the price paid for, and then fill in whatever it is?
[00:09:38]  What is the price paid for getting married?
[00:09:42]  I don't mean financial price, although that might be included.
[00:09:46]  What is the price paid for staying single?
[00:09:50]  What is the price paid for having a child?
[00:09:53]  What is the price paid for not having a child?
[00:09:57]  What is the price paid for having only one child?
[00:10:00]  What is the price paid for having five children?
[00:10:05]  You have to ask this in life.
[00:10:08]  Nothing is free, but that's an ultimate issues or happiness hour subject.
[00:10:16]  I'll take your calls on the male-female hour in a moment.
[00:10:19]  The Dennis Prager show.
[00:10:21]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
[00:10:27]  Gold and silver recently soared to record highs, then pulled back.
[00:10:31]  So, are precious metals still a good buy?
[00:10:33]  Many Wall Street experts predict higher prices ahead.
[00:10:37]  Why?
[00:10:38]  Because we still have trillions in national debt, a declining dollar, and inflation that keeps shrinking our savings.
[00:10:43]  Even with corrections along the way, gold remains a historical hedge for wealth protection.
[00:10:47]  That's why Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer ditched the 60-40 stock and bonds portfolio and recommended up to 20% in precious metals.
[00:10:56]  They're getting educated, and you should too.
[00:10:59]  Call Lear Capital at 800-992-2255 for your free gold investment kit and learn how you could qualify for up to $20,000 in bonus gold.
[00:11:10]  Lear Capital has over $3 billion in transactions and thousands of five-star reviews.
[00:11:15]  Call 800-992-2255.
[00:11:19]  That's 800-992-2255 or visit LearAlex.com.
[00:11:29]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:11:34]  I was talking to, I forgot who.
[00:11:37]  I was talking to somebody about their child going to college.
[00:11:47]  Oh, yes.
[00:11:50]  I was talking to my grandson, who's 11.
[00:11:53]  And we have a Zoom call each week, and we study Bible, or we talk about great issues of life, and wherever it leads, my producer is going to get a kick out of this.
[00:12:13]  So I decided to, this past week, to talk about some of the things about happiness that I talk about.
[00:12:20]  Like, even if you're in a bad mood, you shouldn't act it.
[00:12:24]  It's a very good thing to tell children that they don't act on their moods.
[00:12:29]  And then I talked about one chapter from my happiness book, The Missing Tile Syndrome, that people focus on what they're missing more than what they have, and it's a source of unhappiness.
[00:12:40]  In fact, it's the favorite chapter in the book.
[00:12:43]  And I asked him, so what?
[00:12:46]  Do you have a missing tile?
[00:12:48]  Is there something you're missing and you think about?
[00:12:53]  Are you ready?
[00:12:56]  I almost fell, I literally almost fell off my chair.
[00:13:00]  In total seriousness, he goes, Poppy, there is.
[00:13:07]  I'm missing a fishing boat.
[00:13:12]  Is that awesome?
[00:13:17]  A fishing boat.
[00:13:20]  What?
[00:13:22]  Him?
[00:13:22]  Oh, he loves fishing.
[00:13:24]  That's the whole point.
[00:13:25]  He's crazy about it.
[00:13:26]  He lives on the ocean in Florida, right near the ocean.
[00:13:30]  So why am I telling you this?
[00:13:32]  So I said, so, you know, are you saving up for one?
[00:13:38]  He said, well, a friend and I, I guess I probably said me and a friend.
[00:13:42]  Me and a friend are working on saving up for a fishing boat.
[00:13:46]  Okay.
[00:13:48]  And then I said, really?
[00:13:50]  Great.
[00:13:50]  But he said, there's a problem.
[00:13:52]  His parents want him to put all his money towards college.
[00:13:56]  You know, what grade is he in now?
[00:13:57]  Seventh grade?
[00:13:58]  Yeah, I guess seventh grade.
[00:14:00]  Right at 11, sixth grade, seventh grade.
[00:14:04]  So then I said to him, I actually think a fishing boat is more valuable than a college education.
[00:14:13]  How many grandparents told a grandchild that?
[00:14:21]  And I mean it.
[00:14:22]  That's the amazing.
[00:14:23]  That's why I'm laughing.
[00:14:24]  It wasn't a joke.
[00:14:28]  Absolutely.
[00:14:29]  There's no question he would get more out of a fishing boat than out of college.
[00:14:34]  And so I told him, watch the 500 videos at Prager U, and you will learn far more than you learn at college.
[00:14:44]  Now, you won't learn botany or physics or math.
[00:14:47]  That's correct.
[00:14:49]  But if you're not going into STEM, science, technology, engineering, or math, you will learn more at Prague U.
[00:14:56]  And I mean that literally.
[00:15:01]  It's not even a competition.
[00:15:03]  Bill Bennett's son said years ago to me, and there were only like 100 videos up, he learned more from Prager U than at Princeton, where he attended.
[00:15:14]  So anyway, it is fundraising months of Prager U, so it's apt that I mentioned that to you.
[00:15:21]  Help us teach what should be taught.
[00:15:24]  The subject of the male-female hour, which we are currently in, is where your children, an asset to your marriage, not talking about your life generally, specifically your marriage.
[00:15:39]  Did it hurt your marriage, your child or children, or have neither effect?
[00:15:47]  So all the lines I see, people are saying that their child was an asset.
[00:15:53]  I have a theory.
[00:15:54]  People for whom the child has not been an asset or a child aren't going to call.
[00:16:01]  That's exactly right.
[00:16:04]  That's my theory.
[00:16:05]  Because my experience with knowing people and people open up to me, in a lot of cases, a child has been a detriment.
[00:16:19]  I know one family well where three children were terrific.
[00:16:26]  Or is it, yeah, three children were just terrific and one was a constant source of angst.
[00:16:34]  And one of those three children I know really well told me that it definitely had a bad effect on the parents' marriage.
[00:16:43]  I know of another marriage where a child has severe mental issues, is institutionalized, and it has definitely affected their marriage.
[00:16:59]  So I don't think people want to call in and say it because it's too painful.
[00:17:06]  This is not an argument against children.
[00:17:08]  This is only an observation that to a large extent, an extent that I am willing, have always been willing to acknowledge, but many people find very problematic, and it is problematic, is the role of luck in life.
[00:17:28]  You have a child who was born with serious mental issues or serious physical issues.
[00:17:40]  You love them, and of course, but it is the way it works.
[00:17:49]  It's fate.
[00:17:52]  It's a humbling fact of life.
[00:17:56]  All right, let's go to Moshe in Chicago, the famous Moshe of Chicago.
[00:18:02]  Hello.
[00:18:04]  Yeah, it's such a profound question, Dennis.
[00:18:06]  You know, it's worthy of a Prager Drosh at the Sportsman's Lodge.
[00:18:10]  You know, it's really a great question.
[00:18:14]  And I'm thinking, you know, in my case, it actually is what keeps the marriage going because the marriage is not great, to be honest with you.
[00:18:23]  And so in this sense, you know, it builds the character of us to stay in it.
[00:18:29]  That's how terrific the kids are.
[00:18:31]  And that's where the bond needs to be kept.
[00:18:35]  And, you know, so wisdom, character comes from our children and our love for them.
[00:18:40]  Now, should we stay in it?
[00:18:42]  I think we have to because we're both products of divorce and we know what it does.
[00:18:47]  We disagree with the psychiatrists that say, you know, it's better off for the kids to not be with them, to not be together.
[00:18:53]  How old are your kids?
[00:18:55]  They're both just beginning high school.
[00:18:58]  Right.
[00:18:59]  So this is a thank Moshe.
[00:19:02]  I can't thank you enough because you raised another fascinating issue.
[00:19:07]  Not only on occasion do they hurt a marriage, but on occasion, not only do they help the marriage, but they keep the marriage together.
[00:19:16]  I presume that Moshe and his wife would separate and divorce if they didn't have children.
[00:19:24]  How interesting.
[00:19:25]  It's another factor to throw in, which I hadn't thought of.
[00:19:31]  So the question for Moshe and his wife is, when the kids leave, will they stay together?
[00:19:37]  We'll be back.
[00:19:43]  You should see the responses to my work.
[00:19:47]  It's like my Bible work, except it's another ancient text, not biblical, on the oldest holiday in the world, Passover, and the Seder, well known to non-Jews as well, the opening night, extremely significant meal of the retelling of the Exodus.
[00:20:07]  It's all there, the rational Passover Haggadah.
[00:20:12]  And it's, I get these letters from people.
[00:20:20]  For the first time, they see reason and its power in religious observance.
[00:20:28]  So I strongly commend it to you.
[00:20:32]  Rational Passover Haggadah, it's called.
[00:20:36]  And now back to the male-female hour.
[00:20:40]  A person who stepped into the room was talking to me about the subject.
[00:20:45]  I told you this question is a very tough one for people to address.
[00:20:53]  Was your child or were your children an asset or a detriment to your marriage?
[00:21:02]  Most people calling in, it's on the asset side because it's too difficult to call in on the other, I think.
[00:21:09]  Now, the last call, Moshe in Chicago brought in a new item that I hadn't thought about.
[00:21:17]  So obvious, I should have thought about it, but I didn't.
[00:21:20]  That not only can they be an asset, they may be the glue that keeps your marriage together.
[00:21:27]  That was the case in his call.
[00:21:30]  On the other hand, a man who works at the station where I am and talked to me during the break, his ex-wife had such severe postpartum depression after the birth of their daughter that she ultimately used drugs and alcohol to address.
[00:22:02]  her issues, and they ultimately divorced.
[00:22:10]  That's nothing the child even did.
[00:22:13]  It wasn't like a tough child or a child with severe problems.
[00:22:21]  So both added.
[00:22:24]  If Moshe is still on, though, I have a question for her.
[00:22:26]  Moshe, are you still there?
[00:22:28]  Yes, yes, Dennis.
[00:22:30]  So are you thinking of divorcing once the children are in college, or you're planning never to divorce?
[00:22:40]  It was such a difficult question.
[00:22:43]  My children have blessed me with such character to stay in this.
[00:22:47]  Again, the net asset of having them.
[00:22:50]  You know, I used to live in Los Angeles for most of my life, and I was so self-absorbed, but having kids and being married has made me, has given me so much character to stay with things.
[00:23:00]  You know, I've been my best person because of that.
[00:23:03]  And I know I, so I feel like I owe it to stay.
[00:23:07]  Owe it to whom?
[00:23:09]  Owe it to whom?
[00:23:10]  I don't know.
[00:23:11]  To myself and also to, you know, in the general sense, maybe to, you know, Hashem in a way, but I just feel like there's a general sense of I've given too much to being self-absorbed, to just quit.
[00:23:28]  Well, you're certainly not just a quitter.
[00:23:32]  Thank you.
[00:23:33]  Hashem is a traditional Jewish way of referring to God, for those who didn't know what he was saying.
[00:23:40]  So he feels he owes it to God as well.
[00:23:44]  That's another show we need to do about why people stay in troubled marriages.
[00:23:53]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
[00:23:59]  Gold and silver recently soared to record highs, then pulled back.
[00:24:04]  So are precious metals still a good buy?
[00:24:06]  Many Wall Street experts predict higher prices ahead.
[00:24:10]  Why?
[00:24:10]  Because we still have trillions in national debt, a declining dollar, and inflation that keeps shrinking our savings.
[00:24:16]  Even with corrections along the way, gold remains a historical hedge for wealth protection.
[00:24:20]  That's why Morgan Stanley's chief investment officer ditched the 60-40 stock and bonds portfolio and recommended up to 20% in precious metals.
[00:24:29]  They're getting educated, and you should too.
[00:24:32]  Call Lear Capital at 800-992-2255 for your free gold investment kit and learn how you could qualify for up to $20,000 in bonus gold.
[00:24:43]  Lear Capital has over $3 billion in transactions and thousands of five-star reviews.

=== Protecting Wealth Against Inflation (08:05) ===

[00:24:48]  Call 800-992-2255.
[00:24:52]  That's 800-992-2255 or visit LearAlex.com.
[00:25:01]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:25:05]  Okay, let's Columbus, Ohio, and Hope.
[00:25:11]  That's a great name.
[00:25:12]  Hi, Hope.
[00:25:14]  How are you?
[00:25:15]  Really well, thank you.
[00:25:17]  Awesome.
[00:25:20]  I have three children, aged 27, 23, and 21.
[00:25:27]  And my two younger have special needs.
[00:25:31]  In a nutshell, what does that mean?
[00:25:34]  Autism and how severe?
[00:25:38]  One more severe than the other.
[00:25:41]  Both are in college, but in like work development programs.
[00:25:47]  So not a typical college.
[00:25:49]  They're at college.
[00:25:50]  All right, but that means they're pretty functioning.
[00:25:53]  One lives there.
[00:25:55]  The other one will never live on it independently.
[00:25:57]  All right, hold on with me.
[00:25:58]  very curious to know how they have affected your marriage.
[00:26:08]  Hi, everybody.
[00:26:09]  Male-female hour.
[00:26:12]  Tough subject for some people who've been challenged by their child or children.
[00:26:20]  The question is: have your children or has your child been an asset or a detriment to your marriage?
[00:26:29]  Not talking about your whole life, just the marriage.
[00:26:32]  So going back to Columbus, where is my colony?
[00:26:36]  Hope in Columbus.
[00:26:38]  Two of her three children have special needs.
[00:26:41]  They're autistic and varying degrees of autism.
[00:26:45]  Since I have an autistic stepson who lives with my wife and me, so I'm quite acquainted with this issue.
[00:26:54]  The spectrum of autism is so vast from truly incapable of functioning to quite capable of functioning.
[00:27:06]  Yours are obviously toward the capable of functioning end of that scale, correct?
[00:27:13]  Yes.
[00:27:13]  Right.
[00:27:14]  So my only question is: is their temperament upbeat or down?
[00:27:22]  It is very upbeat.
[00:27:24]  It was not always that way, but puberty sucked, quite frankly.
[00:27:32]  But as we got through puberty and as they're now adults, I do believe we have a very happy household, and I think that that really impacts it.
[00:27:42]  We're generally positive people.
[00:27:44]  We're very faithful people.
[00:27:46]  We have a very large network of other families that have special needs that we socialize them with.
[00:27:58]  But for my husband and I in the marriage, we've made we are very purposeful with our time.
[00:28:03]  We make sure we make time for each other, which is very hard to do with special needs kids because we just have to get a babysitter in and just do it.
[00:28:14]  We have to just make that time.
[00:28:17]  And it has definitely strengthened our faith.
[00:28:22]  Why has it strengthened your faith?
[00:28:26]  I think we were always churchgoers, but I think it has just us talking more about it.
[00:28:35]  We pray together.
[00:28:36]  We didn't pray together in our early marriage.
[00:28:39]  We were both Christians, but we didn't actively pray together.
[00:28:44]  We actively pray together.
[00:28:46]  We actively talk about our faith and our doubts and our, you know, everything.
[00:28:51]  It's just really opened us up.
[00:28:56]  Well, you sound like a wonderful couple.
[00:28:59]  It's been a lot of work.
[00:29:00]  It's not easy.
[00:29:01]  We've coached a lot of younger families.
[00:29:03]  Did they live with you?
[00:29:04]  Did these older ones live with you?
[00:29:09]  I just have one, one that's living with us and will never leave us.
[00:29:12]  In fact, we moved out of suburbia to a farm to help him learn how to care for himself, how to raise chickens, how to garden, how to do this.
[00:29:22]  So we're really actively working with him.
[00:29:24]  It's exhausting, but it's really kept us very, very strong as a couple.
[00:29:29]  Well, God bless you.
[00:29:32]  God.
[00:29:34]  That's why I never get tired of doing the show.
[00:29:37]  Do you know I figured out something, folks?
[00:29:42]  I have no idea how you'll react when you hear this, but I think it's indisputable.
[00:29:50]  There are certainly people who have talked to more people in their lives than I have.
[00:29:56]  But I don't think there's anybody in the world who has talked with more people than I have.
[00:30:03]  Does that sound right?
[00:30:05]  40 years of radio talking to people?
[00:30:10]  Two.
[00:30:10]  I mean, with, not two, two, two.
[00:30:13]  There are people who've talked to more people than I, but not with.
[00:30:18]  So it's an extraordinary asset in my thinking.
[00:30:25]  Okay, let's see.
[00:30:26]  Seattle, Washington, Amy Sue.
[00:30:29]  Hello.
[00:30:31]  Good morning.
[00:30:32]  How are you doing?
[00:30:33]  Thank you.
[00:30:33]  Well, well, in my marriage, it was a detriment to have a child.
[00:30:42]  And it took me a while to realize that with my husband.
[00:30:48]  He had two other brothers, and they were three years apart.
[00:30:53]  I thought, well, maybe he just wasn't exposed to girls' children, you know.
[00:31:04]  And his parents were, he went to a parochial school.
[00:31:07]  His parents were Lutheran, very strict, and into music quite a bit.
[00:31:13]  They were both.
[00:31:15]  Wait, I'm a little confused.
[00:31:17]  What does having a troubled child have to do with the brothers?
[00:31:22]  No.
[00:31:24]  Our daughter was not a troubled child.
[00:31:28]  It was having her was a detriment to our marriage because I didn't know my husband didn't feel comfortable with children, and he resented.
[00:31:40]  I see.
[00:31:40]  Okay, so again, why did you raise the brothers issue?
[00:31:45]  Well, because as I reflected, I thought, well, he has two other brothers.
[00:31:51]  They're all three years apart, so he hasn't really been exposed to girls.
[00:31:55]  You know, at first.
[00:31:56]  Yeah, right.
[00:31:56]  But the number of men not exposed to girls who have no issue with the daughter is much greater.
[00:32:03]  You think if you had a son, it would have worked out?
[00:32:06]  No, no.
[00:32:08]  Okay, so, okay, so all of that stuff isn't really relevant.
[00:32:11]  Okay.
[00:32:11]  Okay, so he didn't know how to handle being a parent.
[00:32:15]  Right.
[00:32:16]  And he didn't understand her.
[00:32:19]  So this is okay.
[00:32:21]  So this is a new piece of data in our puzzle.
[00:32:30]  My God, I didn't even think of that.
[00:32:35]  That would be a detriment to a marriage if your spouse finds being a parent very troubling.
[00:32:48]  Sorry for laughing.
[00:32:49]  It's a dark, it's the dark humor part of me.

=== Dark Humor on Marriage (06:15) ===

[00:32:54]  And just laughing at the human condition, the almost infinite possibilities for misery.
[00:33:03]  Right?
[00:33:05]  Who would have thought of that?
[00:33:08]  Yeah, our child was a detriment because my husband didn't want to be a parent.
[00:33:15]  Oh, my God.
[00:33:18]  That's why you have to work on happiness.
[00:33:20]  That's why my book on happiness has the appropriate title.
[00:33:25]  Hopiness is a serious problem.
[00:33:28]  The Dennis Prager Show.
[00:33:30]  This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.
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[00:34:37]  Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.
[00:34:43]  Final segment of the male-female hour.
[00:34:45]  It's an intense one, emotionally intense.
[00:34:49]  Have your children or child been an asset or detriment to your marriage?
[00:34:56]  The call started with all asset, now half-detriment.
[00:35:04]  As the show went on and I welcomed more on the dark side, I got more of them.
[00:35:12]  Amy and Phoenix, please don't hang up, folks.
[00:35:15]  I would like to summarize your calls.
[00:35:18]  If you hang up, I don't see what you have to say.
[00:35:22]  Phoenix, Arizona, Amy, I have special needs kids twice divorced.
[00:35:26]  Kids have been detriment.
[00:35:30]  Yeah, my heart goes out to you.
[00:35:33]  That's all I can say.
[00:35:38]  Well, Steve in Wisconsin, our children are an asset, but I mishandled them and caused my wife to divorce me.
[00:35:46]  God, that's another one.
[00:35:50]  Differences with your spouse about the children.
[00:35:55]  Sharon in Dallas, an asset to her marriage.
[00:35:58]  Bless you, Sharon.
[00:36:00]  Kathleen in Denver, a huge asset, six kids.
[00:36:04]  I wonder if more kids more kids obviously raise the odds of detriment, but I think that they raise the odds in the other direction, too.
[00:36:20]  That's worthy of a male-female hour.
[00:36:26]  A lot of kids and its effect on a marriage.
[00:36:30]  San Francisco, Mary, my child is a detriment to our marriage.
[00:36:36]  I'm sorry.
[00:36:40]  And let's see.
[00:36:43]  Don in Dallas, definitely an asset to the marriage.
[00:36:47]  And Sue in Coronado, California, two kids, one an asset and one a detriment.
[00:36:53]  So allow me to make this appeal to you.
[00:36:58]  If you have a difficult child, often through no fault of their own, sometimes quite through their fault, to the extent that you can, and you can to a very large extent if you choose to, you have to decide to be happy and not be held hostage by your child.
[00:37:21]  Your happiness should not be held hostage by your child.
[00:37:25]  I have argued this for years on my show.
[00:37:30]  Great call from a woman, I don't know, 10 years ago, more.
[00:37:37]  I didn't break my child.
[00:37:39]  I can't fix her.
[00:37:42]  It's a brilliant, brilliant statement.
[00:37:49]  It's not fair, to say the least, to let them do that to you.
[00:37:56]  Anyway, I'm going to revisit the topic with couples who didn't have a child.
[00:38:01]  What they think about their marriage in light of that.
[00:38:05]  It's been the male-female hour.
[00:38:07]  continue on the Dennis Prager Show.
[00:38:23]  This has been Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.
[00:38:26]  Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs and to purchase Dennis Prager's rational Bibles.
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[00:39:09]  Uh