Is There "Happily Ever After"?

Enjoying an afternoon with extended family –– a rare occurrence since chol hamoed usually falls out on workdays –– everything was going fairly well until 7 year old of married cousin a few years older than me speaks up. The context was a conversation I was having with a random cousin home for yuntif during his third (ish?) year learning in Israel. He was saying I should come visit and hang out since he's not learning during second seder anyway this coming winter zman, as he's studying for his LSATs. I'm not exactly sure how the comment fit in at all, but said 7 year old looked at me with all the seriousness of being 7 years old and having all the answers.

"Why don't you just get married?"

I looked at her, curious, trying to figure out where she was going with that question.

"Because then you'll live happily ever after..."

I think she was trying to say that I won't have to deal with her uncle or take trips or who knows what.

Coming from a 7 year old, the comment didn't really bother me, but it got me thinking. What are we teaching our young children? Why do 7 year olds have concepts of such things? Do we, as a society, perpetuate this?

It's a lot to think about. It's about 7 year olds talking about dating/marriage, but it's also how as if it's the ultimate solution to every problem.

I love this quote from Samara O'Shea, which I talked about here.

While Disney taught us from a young age that happiness exists "over there, in that castle with that person," O'Shea muses, "...that there is only one dragon to slay, someone else will slay it for you, and on the other side of that afternoon kill is nirvana...In reality...there are many dragons to slay...and the only person that can pull the sword from the stone and make the monster beg for mercy is you..."

In the way of just a small example, does being married make in-law yuntif drama less? If anything it adds a whole other dimension. There are challenges in every aspect of life. Although, having someone in your corner who will hopefully take your side and support you in these great discussions and disagreements that can get super emotional and personal when there's lots of family, friends, and other guests that don't necessarily see eye-to-eye, decidedly makes things a little more comfortable.