By Jennifer Waldburger, LCSW – Seeing your child happy can bring happiness to you, too – and make your heart swell to bursting with love and appreciation. It can even carry you right back to the sense of joy and freedom you felt as a child, opening up doors to creativity and imagination that may have been closed or even locked before you had kids. But what’s important to monitor is the extent to which your child’s happiness, or unhappiness, may be a barometer of your own. If you find that your child’s triumphs and challenges – her emotional ups and downs – are the primary gauge of your own sense of well-being, you may be in for a bit of a rough ride.