Am I the only parent who was surprised how easy raising kids is? All I've heard was how much of a sacrifice and struggle raising kids is. My experience is the complete opposite. You make larger portions of the same meals, run a full washing machine every day instead of a half full one. Play chutes and ladders instead of settlers of catan. Are there constraints on your life that didn't exist before? Yes, but nothing intolerable if you don't obsess about it.
The hard part for a lot of parents is the number of things you 'should do to be a better parent', stretches out into the infinite. No matter what good they do, all they see is an endless list of ways in which they've failed. Keep yourself out of that mental trap and parenting is a piece of cake.
While staying clear of that mental trap is key (so easy to forget, at least here in the US), I also think that for it to feel easy, some people have to make a conscious effort to make it easy.
If you're anything like me, any intellectually-gratifying side project I get started on will slowly consume me if I'm not careful. By that, I mean that it's what I'll think about when I get up, before I go to sleep and, yes, during all my free time. I can't do the one hour a day thing.
It's simply impossible to balance that state of mind with young children, at least the first few years, because it's not so much that they'd resent you if you chose to spend your free time on that side project instead of them (although if they're old enough, they will), it's that they physically need you for reassurance, feeding, diaper-changing, etc...
That's a lesson I learned the hard way, especially after my second child.
A real danger for people like me is that you could end up resenting your own kid for depriving you of that intellectual gratification you crave. No matter how much fun little kids are (say < 4), they cannot satisfy that craving.
The hard part for a lot of parents is the number of things you 'should do to be a better parent', stretches out into the infinite. No matter what good they do, all they see is an endless list of ways in which they've failed. Keep yourself out of that mental trap and parenting is a piece of cake.