Translate the arguments in the following dialogue into standard-form categorical syllogisms. The dialogue contains more than twenty arguments, and most are expressed in the form of enthymemes. The first translated syllogism may be found in the answer section.

Do Kids Make Parents Happy?

Tad and Lara, his fiancée, are walking in the park. Tad pauses a moment to look at some children playing in the grass. Lara stops beside him.

"I know we've talked about this before," she says, "but I wish you'd get over this idea about us having a bunch of kids."

"I'll think about it," Tad says. "But could you tell me once again about why you don't want any?"

"I think most couples believe that kids automatically bring happiness," Lara says. "But that's simply not the case. I've read some recent studies about this. They show that childless couples experience higher levels of emotional well-being than couples with kids. Thus, childless couples are happier than couples with kids."

"I've read those studies of yours," Tad says, "but I don't know what to make of them. Consider this. Kids make you laugh, and laughter is essential to happiness. So kids do make you happy. Plus, in a way, having kids makes you immortal."

"How do you figure that?"

"Okay, not immortal exactly, but I mean that they make you participate in a kind of immortality. Your children grow up and have children, and those children have children, and on it goes. This feeling of contributing to the perpetuation of the human race makes you happy, don't you think?"

"Frankly," Lara replies, "that's all a bit too removed from the 'now' to suit me. Maybe at the beginning when a couple is expecting their first child, they tend to be happy. But once the baby arrives, the honeymoon ends. The newborn has to be fed every couple of hours, the parents aren't getting any sleep, and those parents aren't happy."

"Well, very tired, yes, but unhappy?" says Tad. "Plus, it's temporary and only lasts for the first few months."

"And after the first few months, you have toys and food all over the house and sticky stuff on all the furniture. How happy is living in a constant mess going to make you?"

"Not very, I guess. But there's more to life than a neat house. Having kids will force us not to be selfish, and no one who's selfish is truly happy. Also, kids promote an atmosphere of growth. Watching kids learn, change, and grow makes parents happy. Don't you think that's true?"

"Sure," Lara says, "in theory. In reality, growing means infants become toddlers who scream, whine, and throw tantrums. Having to listen to all that racket makes no one happy. And then, life just gets more hectic. Kids constantly have to be driven to and from school, dancing lessons, little league, the mall-all detracting from the happiness of the parents. Right?"

"Right," Tad says, "but kids are fun. They're constantly playing; and having playful children around you brings happiness. Plus some kids grow up to accomplish extraordinary things. How could one not be happy at witnessing the success of one's child?"

"Okay," says Lara, "but kids take up a tremendous amount of time. Couples who have kids often have no time for vacations-I know that wouldn't make you happy. And some couples with kids don't even have time for sex. How would you like that?"

"I wouldn't," Tad admits. "But maybe we could learn to manage our time better than those other couples. Which leads me to something else: Having kids will force us to work together as a couple. That will deepen our relationship, and deeper relationships are happier relationships. And don't forget unconditional love. Kids love you for who you are. They don't care what you look like, whether you're overweight, or what kind of car you drive. Being loved like that makes you happy."

"Well, of course it does," says Lara. "But what about money? Kids cost a fortune. Food, clothing, medical bills, and a college education will leave us constantly broke. Can we be happy like that? And what about my career? I have goals, just like you. If I'm constantly pregnant or taking care of little kids, I'll never achieve them. I can't possibly be happy if that happens."

"No," Tad says. "We'd have to work that out. As we grow older, though, think about what our lives will be like without any children. We'll be lonely and cut off, with no one to call us and no grandchildren to visit us. Does that sound like happiness to you?"

"Ha!" Lara says. "You assume that the kids will eventually leave the house. You forget that we live in the age of boomerang offspring. After they finish school, they come back home to live, and you never get rid of them. How does that grab you?"

"Well, we didn't stay around long after college. I think when we decided to leave the nest and get married, we made our parents truly happy."

"Yeah," Lara replies. "I think we did. So maybe we've proved your case. Some kids, at least, end up making their parents happy."