Dear Prudence,
I am a woman in my mid-30s, with a supportive and loving husband, a toddler, a baby, and a full-time, fulfilling job. I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. But, although I often feel content, I’ve lost the ability to feel the kind of blissful happiness I was capable of feeling in my youth, before kids. I’m seeing a therapist, and she thinks there is nothing wrong with me—that this loss of jubilation is just a fact of growing older and having so much on my plate. My husband disagrees and says he misses the old, more cheerful me. What do you think? Should I break up with my therapist and find someone else to help me find my smile again, or am I just too world-weary for that sort of nonsense?
—Nostalgic for a Happier Version of Me