Difficulties of Parenting Essay

Every day thousands and thousands of adults around the world experience the happiness and challenges of becoming new parents. Every generation goes through the period of having to raise its children to adulthood. Even though parenthood has a great deal of positive points for the mother and father, it is probably the most difficult task that they will take on in their lives. Being a good parent requires a great deal of effort in many different areas throughout a child’s life, and being able to successfully manage all those areas is what makes parenthood so demanding. The actual process of physically raising an infant is probably the most difficult task for a parent. When a child is born, it is completely helpless and needs constant attention to all its needs. Parents must constantly feed it, clean it, and always pay constant attention to their new child since it is completely dependent on them. Finding the right foods, cloths, and other necessary items such as diapers and baby bottles might look easy, but they are quite difficult and require a great deal of time and attention. Picking the wrong baby formula can cause a baby to get sick, and finding the correct size for baby cloths can be quite difficult. Also, since there are many different variations and brands for everything babies need, parents will usually find it hard to decide what the right product is for their child. For example, finding the perfect car seat for a baby becomes a big challenge when the parents must choose between at least twenty similar brands. As the child grows up, new challenges are created for the parents. One of the most important parts of raising a child is to teach it morals and discipline. Many times parents find it difficult to decide when and how to teach a child a certain thing. For example, parents must show that lying and cheating are not good, but many are unable to explain the negative results of these actions. Also, many families have environments where children see their parents doing many of the bad things that they showed their children to be wrong. Therefore, another difficult task for parents is to create a positive home setting that is based on what they teach their children. Also, parents must find a way to discipline their children without causing fear in them. Some children are more difficult that others for teaching discipline, but parents must be careful not to be too forceful with them but, at the  same time, be able to gain their full respect. The many stresses of raising a child can have a strong impact on the parents through the years, and learning to adjust to the new stresses of life is quite important but difficult for parents to do. Financially, the cost of living becomes much higher for the parents, and they realize that they must find new ways to adjust their lives in order to make ends meet. They will eventually have to give up on many things that they used to do such as going to expensive restaurants and yearly trips out of town. Parents always want the best for their children and many times must find ways to help their children get over the many hurdles such as school work, peer pressure, and other things that may cause a child to lose its confidence. In this way parents go through the same stresses that their children go through, and the long years of continuous stress will have a lasting effect on the parents. Finally, one of the more difficult realities that parents face is the loss of their freedom and free time. They realize that the daily walks together become more and more difficult. They will have a lot fewer romantic dinners together. Instead, they will be spending more time at home with the children or, at best, in a family restaurant with the rest of the families with children. At first, accepting this reality will be a difficult task for the parents. As time goes by, they adapt to the new environment. However, many men and women go through periods of depression in their late 30’s and 40’s due to the fact that they feel like they have lost a big portion of their younger times raising their children and are no longer able to enjoy life as they did before. It is another sacrifice that all parents make for their children. Clearly, having children and raising them to the best of their abilities are goal of most parents. However, accomplishing this goal is probably the most difficult challenge of their lives. It takes a great deal of energy, both physically and emotionally, to turn an infant into an adult, and it all comes at a big cost and sacrifice for the parents. As they raise their children, parents learn as much as their children about life. In a way, they grow with their children in their own ways through the good and the often  difficult times.