Hardest part of being a parent
No one said being a parent would be easy. For me it is the consistency of discipline. I find I cave sometimes and am not as consistent as I should be. I know children need clear and consistent rules. I find my kids try and play their dad off me and we need to make sure we are both on the same page. What do you think the hardest part of parenting is?
I constantly wonder if I'm a good parent. Do I read to them enough? Do I spend enough time with them? Do I pay more attention to one over the other? Am I equally fair to each one? The questions that fill my head are never ending!
As two of them are nearing the age of moving out on their own, I wonder if I've taught them the lessons they need to know. Are they going to be able to make it on their own? If they have a problem, will they know how to deal with it? Will they come to me if they need help?
I think the hardest part of being a parent is having to watch our babies (even when they're adults, I suspect!) make poor choices and mistakes and having to sit by and watch it unfold without being able to do anything to help. 😢
We can offer advice, but the basic bottom line decisions are theirs (well, unless they're very young and can't make decisions on their own, at least important ones) and even if we see a disaster coming down the pike, we're powerless. Yes, that's what I'd say... hardest part of parenting is being powerless when we want to swoop in and fix everything. 🙁
The hardest part for me is letting them make mistakes and learn from them. I always want to fix everything for them! lol. Also, worrying about them. I worry about their futures in this messed up economy and our messed up government and rules and standards and society lol.. I'm all about the freedom, that's why my children don't have restrictions and I don't force them to think or live like me.. I don't own them. They're their own people and I treat them as such. They've been allowed to grow up being completely themselves with full say in anything that involves them and their feelings are always considered and valid. Raised with respect, so they're respectful.. very mature kids with no need to rebel or self sabotage or run amok doing whatever the heck, so it's been a breeze. As I said, my biggest problem is the worry and wanting to help them avoid all mistakes lol.. each time I step back though, they always prove I'm making the right choices. Trust them and they'll go above and beyond 🙂
Keeping my patience is hard for me. I have anxiety and I stay at home with them. By the end of the day I'm just completely, emotionally exhausted. I love them, but good Lord can they push my buttons!! It's really nice to get a hot shower all alone to regroup at the end of the day. I am super thankful for my husband's help as soon as the poor guy comes home from a 12 hour shift at a body shop. I swear he is an angel.
I would have to say that the worst part about being a parent is the constant worry about your children. We all know that it is a scary world out there and anytime they are away it seems like I was always biting my nails just wondering that they were okay. It is just a natural part of the job though and something that we cannot escape.
I agree with this wholeheartedly and have really been struggling lately. I have found myself going on strikes and not putting my all into being the mother I want to be...but this lifestyle is very stressful and filled with gloomy days. It is hard to care for a family especially one that seems like they expect you to keep doing these things and not getting any help or appreciation. I am just fed-up and tired of such things happening in my household, I feel like an underpaid maid. Got to protect yourself from getting too stressed out...and relaxing more is my goal.
I am with RZ3300. The constant worry is the worst part to me. I'm a worrier by nature, so sometimes my mind goes into overdrive trying to make sure everyone is okay. I just try to channel that energy into focusing on teaching my kids right from wrong and praying that I am raising people that will be upstanding citizens even when they aren't under my thumb anymore.
Such a good question! I'm only a new-ish parent (my daughter is 1) but I think the hardest thing is the worry! Constantly wanting to do your best for them, wanting them to meet their milestones, and things like that! I often wonder if I'm doing enough as a parent - gosh, I'm pretty sure we all feel that way a lot!
I also think the selflessness can be hard. I love, love, love being a parent - but at times during the journey so far I've felt like I have been losing a part of me. I hope that doesn't sound terrible (I know a lot of you will know what I mean when I say it!)
The hardest part about being a parent is giving your children the right advice. As a parent you always want to steer your children towards the right direction and they have a lot of questions that we as parents have to come up with answers to. So there's that pressure of trying to give them the correct advice because they're depending on it.
Discipline is by far the hardest part for me too - but I know it's so important (maybe because I know it IS so important...), so I stress, and then I get all frustrated and "blow up" and scare my children, which makes me feel even worse. Aargh! 🙁
Fortunately, I can get over MY "temper tantrums" quickly enough to try to smooth things over - hug my children and tell them I love them and I'm sorry I didn't handle the situation in the best way. But then I wonder if all that lovey-dovey stuff is negating the discipline that I tried to make happen in the first place. Still, they seem to listen to me better than they listen to their daddy, so I must be getting through to them somehow.
Yeah, I totally second guess myself all the time (and I know THAT can't be good, either, because they'll catch on to that). I never knew parenting would be this hard!
I've just found the hardest part of parenting... my wife has gone on away for work for a week and I'm at home with three under three! I honestly don't know how she does it, the house is a mess and every time I sit down for a minute, I'm thinking of 10 other things I still have to do! At least they're fed and showered and theres only 4 sleeps to go...
Andy_Lothbro said:I always think it's good when my husband has to watch our little one solo -- it's good that he understands how hard it can be sometimes! I can't imagine what 3 under 3 would be like, but I'm sure it gives you a big appreciation of how much she does!
I've just found the hardest part of parenting... my wife has gone on away for work for a week and I'm at home with three under three! I honestly don't know how she does it, the house is a mess and every time I sit down for a minute, I'm thinking of 10 other things I still have to do! At least they're fed and showered and theres only 4 sleeps to go...
"Hardest part of being a parent" Ummm...all of it? 😀 Not being a morning person, I'd say waking up to get kids ready and off to school. Punishment isn't really difficult for me, but I'm not always sure if what they do is punishment worthy. I often feel like I'm walking a fine line between parenting and controlling.
Oh, and all that stuff about worry and such...
Not being on the same page as your partner. I never knew until we had kids that we wouldn't really agree on basic things. Like I think orange pop is bad, he thinks it's an ok treat. I think hours of tv is bad, he thinks that's part of childhood. I think he should erase mistakes and rewrite them, he thinks it's good enough. Etc, etc, etc..... it makes my head explode just thinking about it!
One of the hardest things about being a parent for me is worrying about being a bad influence to my children. For example, my husband and I tend to yell when we get in an argument and my daughter and my youngest son do this now. Of course it doesn't help that they don't get along a lot of the time. I feel some what to blame for this behavior since I am sure they learned some of it from me as well as my husband. I have been trying to watch my tone of voice but unfortunately some times I still do it.
Another thing about parenting that is hard is when spouses differ in parenting methods. This is one of the problems my husband and I encounter. He has his parenting style and I have mine. Once in a while we come together as a team and are able to be on the same wave length but that is not all the time. I try to be fair to all my kids and discipline them the same but in some circumstances I do have to consider their ages. They vary in age. My husband is what I call wishy washy and is not consistent in the way he disciplines them. This becomes a problem especially when he tries to be the cool dad and makes me look like the bad guy. That is when we start having a problem.
I would say for me is the gaining of fear. Before I became a parent I was free and careless. I could explore and do things that might be consider dangerous. Now I have gained fear in almost everything. For myself and kids, whats going on in the world etc. I don't like to be afraid but I don't want to think about the what could happens. Its a battle and while my kids grow up they get to the careless and free stage while I freak out and worry away.
For me, I guess the hardest part will be seeing her leave to have her own family. It's a bitter sweet moment. I want to see her build her own family as well.
The hardest part of being a parent is being responsible for everything to do with their care and growth. I always worry about them and want to protect them from being hurt even though I know this is a natural part of growing up but I do not want them to feel the pain of being hurt by others. I worry if I make the right choices and how this will affect them later in life. Am I teaching them the right things and the right way? So many questions that have no right answers that it keeps my head spinning. Once in a while they will surprise me and then I know that I have at least done something right. Being a parent is hard but being a single parent is really hard and sometimes overwhelming. But I love my kids to death and would do anything for them.
Well I just had a close friend who lost her child, and it was devastating to see what it did to her. I think that everything about what I thought about this topic really changed when I witnessed that and saw it and put everything into perspective. That certainly has the be the hardest part ever about have a child, and I feel sad for anyone who has to live through that.