Parents, what has been the most challenging part of parenting?

Question

Parents, what has been the most challenging part of parenting?

Answer 1

For me its balancing school (I'm taking college classes), my daughter and the house.  Finding time to feed the animals and let the dog out.  Figuring out when and what to make for dinner, and setting aside time for my husband (he works 10-12hrs a day 6 days/week).  And finding time for myself so i dont go crazy.  We want the best for our daughter, and we want to teach her so much.  She's almost 8 months old so she wants attention 24/7.

Answer 2

learning to let go

Answer 3

I would say the most challenging part of parenting to me has been letting my children make mistakes as they get older.  

When they were all little, it was much easier.  I could tell them something and my word was gold.  Now, the older ones have a mind of their own and I want them to, but it's hard watching them learn the hard way.  I have had to learn how to sit back and allow them to learn something on their own (sometimes making a mistake in the process) instead of being right their guiding them the whole way.   *sigh*  If only they would let me hold their hands all through life. :-)

Answer 4

Being consistent with discipline.  You give an inch and they'll walk all over you....lol.  

Answer 5

Sharing my child with someone who was only using him to pick up women. Thankfully, that part is over.

Answer 6

There seems to be a new challenge every time we get past an old one.

Currently its trying to get my 4 year old to not argue with me. And trying to get my 2 year old to tell me whats wrong; instead of screaming bloody murder when he's upset/bored/hurt/tired...  

Answer 7

The hardest for me is realizing that what my child does is the exact same thing I did at their age. Dealing with it calmly and rationally, keeping a open line of communication.

Answer 8

Potty training a 2 yr old and then trying to put to bed a very over tired infant who refuses to sleep.

Answer 9

Funny that you should ask this at this exact point in my life..........

It is not toilet training, it is not preschool, not elementary, junior high, it is not teaching them to drive, or even the elegant and expensive prom gowns, it was not even college................IT IS this

my 23 year old daughter, who is pregnant and has broken ties with the child's father, (  I am 'ok' with this) returns home..........

She wishes to be treated and respected as an adult, yet she acts as a child,.  She expects me to cook, and clean and to shop for her baby.  She expects her dad to "fix" whatever and all problems with her vehicle, after he has worked a 12 hour day.  She wants satellite TV, wireless cable, well stocked cabinets, hot water and scented soaps, favorite shampoos and conditioners, "special" stretch mark cream, new shoes, a finely decorated nursery................yet in the three weeks that she has been 'home', she has not once cooked, or put in a single job application!  I have had to 'remind' her that her room needs to be vacumed, have had to "ask" her to take the trash out..........just tonight, I got "tough" with her and told her that once Dad goes to bed, the TV needs to go off so that he can rest for tomorrows work.

Children are children and I can take them as such......adults are adults and should no longer expect the special protection that children receive.

Just before seeing this question, I was forming one in my own mind!

Adult children who wish to be treated as "adults" and yet continue to act as children are the worst that I have yet seen!

Answer 10

The most challenging part would be trying to figure out what kind of parent I am and what kind of parent I will be in the future. I have a 10 month old daughter, and I want to be so many amazing things for her. It is really challenging to live up to my own expectations as a parent. :/

Answer 11

Well i am only 18 but i do have 3 daughters of my own and i am raising my two sisters as well (because our parents passed away about 8 months ago). My daughters are aged 28 months, 14 months and 4 months. And my sisters are 14 and 7.

The hardest thing has deffinately been coping with the loss of my parents as well as taking on 2 more kids. Especially the 14 year old because she is the typical 14 year old girl!

But i love them all and i wouldnt change a thing...except for having my parents back.

but thats just the way life goes!

:)

Answer 12

I had two girls, and I found few problems til they got to be 16. It`s the changeover from child to woman that was the big challenge. Thank God there were no serious problems, drugs, drinking, ( although they did sneak it a couple of times ), no abortions, or failing grades. They both are college grads, and are married to the same spouses for many years now. Something worked, because the grandchildren are good as well.

Answer 13

Finding time for yourself

Answer 14

I am aan adoptive mom and the hardest part for me so far has been dealing with nosy questions about my daughter's mom being a crack wh---and such.

Although dealing with a colicky baby comes into a close second!

I have to agree with the person who's 23 year old still expects to be taken care of like a child...that wold be a hard pill to swallow as well!

Answer 15

my mom said i liked to press buttons and lots of times i locked myself in rooms and we had to get security to break open the window and let me out.

Answer 16

Putting away "me".  Not doing anything for myself, putting away my hobbies because I can't afford them, putting away going out because I can't with 2 kids, loosing friends because all of my friends don't have kids and they don't understand that I can't go places anymore at the drop of a hat or that when they come over my children will be there, etc...  Not buying new clothes, not going on vacations, etc, etc.  

That's been the hardest part.

Oh, and keeping my temper - I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old and some days it's all I can do to keep from screaming at them - haha.

Answer 17

I also agree with Catty, but I have to second Forever5's answer best. In hindsight, we can all point out things that make parenting difficult, but in the midst of the day-to-day to not be able to know what troubles their child is definitely the most challenging for me. My normally bubbly 3 y.o. had a day like that today, she was inconsolable for most of the day. It took her genius father 6 hours to figure out that it was the new sippee cup that wouldn't splash like the old one she'd chewed to death the was bothering her. It wasn't in her hand when she would cry, and I didn't know if she fell, needed to potty (she still doesn't always communicate this) or what unitl I tried to give her the sippee. Only when I gave her the old one did she brighten up. Go figure.

Answer 18

Its been very hard for me to try to raise my stepdaughter when her mothers rules and lifestyle is totally opposite from mine. With my own son its probably being consitent with punishments because sometimes when Im exhausted I just let him get away with things.

Answer 19

I agree with Ibbastia.

Being consistant with discipline is so hard. If you tell them something like..."You do that and you are on a weeks restriction" and you do not stick to what you say, they remember that. Then the next time you tell them something, they don't believe you will do it. I am trying to be better at sticking to what I say, but sometimes it is hard. The best thing I have found is taking my kids cellphones, video games or outdoor priviledges for punishment. That seems to work best. Knowing the right punishment for each situation is hard. Also, it is so hard to know what to tell your kids about what to do in certain situations. I want to be sure I am giving my kids good solid advice, but we are only human. Sometimes we may not give the right advice. Being a good parent is not an easy job. My neice once told me, "when I have kids, I'm going to let them do whatever they want". Yeah right! She changed her tune once she did have children. Thank goodness.

Answer 20

Figuring out what is wrong when the can't tell you.  Are they teething, do they have an earache, or are they just grumpy?  

Finding out that something was wrong and you didn't see it.

Answer 21

For me I would say letting them go to school. Until then I had been a part of every aspect of their life and always knew what they were doing. Now they are growing up and having there own little life going on that I don't know. It is hard to watch them grow up

Answer 22

im not a parent but i would think the most challenging part would be seeing your child grow up so fast, and having to kind of learn to let them learn themselves.

Answer 23

Being an on-call doctor without a degree. All those accidents and bumps and weekend sore throats and headaches etc- days before you can get into a doctor. Trying to figure out how to fix, comfort, eliminate pain and discomfort, all the while trying to figure out what's severe and what isn't. That's hard.

Answer 24

Paying child support.

Answer 25

All of parenting is challenging! The most challenging for me is when my kids are sick.  

Answer 26

Dealing with a teen that thinks they don't have to listen any more.

Answer 27

Well-I've only been a mommy for 4 weeks-so I'd have to say the lack of sleep..

Answer 28

getting my kids to fess up to something they did wrong... we find lots of broken toys and stuff goes missing in the house and neither one will fess up to it and then it becomes lie city here... so we threaten grounding they usually fess up but by then they smart aleck has come out of the boys and it is something else to deal with...

Answer 29

Deciding whether there actually really hurt or just being dramatic for my daughter. Overall, discipline would be the most challenging. I swear it hurts you more than them.

Answer 30

Having an unexpected birth and he was 2 months premature. Right now we are having a hard time walking or having enough confidence to walk by himself even-though we cheer him on and feeding himself table foods; he likes to scratch, sometimes hit (we tell him gentle all of the time) and throw himself down because he can't have the remote that has batteries or something he cannot have, be in or touch, we don't know where this comes from.