What is the Hardest Part of Being a Parent?
12:46 PM
The potty training years were hell and those few times I had to clean poop off the wall and the white crib were not exactly fond memories, but I wouldn't consider that the hardest part of parenting. I think everyone has a different idea of what the hardest part of parenting is and I was curious so I thought, why not ask my readers in a post?
Mommy guilt is a hard part of parenting for me. Every time they have a bad day or do not excel at something, I somehow feel responsible. I live in fear that they will grow up and not have fond memories of being a child. I strive each day to give them the best life possible, but the guilt still comes. Joshua has ADHD and ODD and I feel responsible everyday that it is somehow my fault. The same with Jordan who has a learning disability. Is there something I could have done different while pregnant or while they were young. The fact that everyone from school teachers to your next door neighbor judges you as a parent doesn't help the guilt any either, but even the guilt isn't the hardest part of being a parent for me.
For me, the hardest part of being a parent is watching them grow up. For the last 11 years, parenting has been my life. I did work when my oldest three were little because I had no choice, but I still lived for those moments of mothering them. My youngest will be 6 this year though and he will leave for school in just a few short weeks. This, letting him go, is the hardest thing I have ever done. Knowing that he is my last little one tears at my heart almost daily. I am content in the fact that I will be helping others to start their family, but it does not make it easier to watch my own grow up. Everyone says how you will wish for them to grow up and that day may come as they roll into the teenage years, but for now I am grieving the loss of my babies as they become big boys and no longer need me as much as the once did.
That is the hardest part of parenting for me. What is yours?
7 comments
With 2 boys down and 2 to go, I'm going to have to say potty training. Maybe other things will get harder as they grow up, but for me PT was ridiculously difficult!
ReplyDeleteI just have a three year old and the hardest part so far has been the potty training years. We do the school thing next year. As far as the one I am pregnant with I have no clue yet.
ReplyDeleteWe have just started potty training. The Mommy Guilt is big with me (I felt terrible going to BlogHer) but the hardest thing for me is that unknown and fear. Sometimes my heart will beat faster and my breath catches just thinking of something happening to him. It's like our hearts our with them now!
ReplyDeleteYep, potty training is always difficult. I decided I would show the boys what to do and then just let them go til they decided. Once they determined it was time, we were pretty good to go.
ReplyDeleteThe guilt definitely gets to me as well as thoughts of the unknown too.
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My baby turned 18 this summer and graduated and moved out and is engaged now... I am thinking that each stage they have gone through has been the hardest... when they were toddlers and potty training... when they were all learning to ride bikes and the many trips to the ER... pre teens when the attitude starts.. teenagers when they really start pulling away and yet it is most important to be there for them... now they are all out on their own.. making their own mistakes and learning from them and/or living with them.. I am so very proud and scared for them... thinking that watching them go into marriages and starting families will also be hard... parenting is all about balancing for me.. every happy moment seems to come with a sad and thankfully the sad ones balance out with happy ones... being a mom has been the hardest, most rewarding, most heartbreaking and love building thing I have ever done... I am so thankful for every second of it all.
ReplyDeleteI've only been a parent for just over 4 years now and yes, watching them grow up is rewarding but so so so hard. For me, so far, getting them to sleep is my biggest hurdle.
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