Parenting is Hard

Parenting is Hard.

That is all. Happy Monday. Just kidding, though I actually think that in and of itself is a profound statement and one we don’t hear enough. I remember a therapist saying to my husband and me one time, “I don’t really know if anything is harder than raising children.” I remember thinking how refreshing that was, particularly coming from someone who must know far more than me about the inner workings of childhood development. I’ve often referenced it in my mind.

Most recently, as I prepared for a work trip to Italy, and the longest I’ve been away from my almost-two-year-old, both worry and guilt plagued me. As I chatted about it with other working moms, one of them recommended a recent post by Dr. Becky. She talks about leaving her child for a girls’ weekend and her young son’s protest and feelings about it. But it wasn’t the sentiment that children need leaders, not martyrs (though I appreciated that reminder); it was one simple sentence that I’ve thought about over and over. “It’s ok for him to be upset.” (Of course what she/we are talking about within the confines of agreed-upon healthy parenting, attachment, nurture, etc.) But with that caveat... It’s okay for my toddler to protest and want me home with her all the time. It’s okay for my teenagers (within the last 24 hours) to tell me they and “all the other parents” think our social media rules are crazy. It’s okay for kids to be upset. How utterly, shockingly revolutionary in 2024.

Parenting is hard. We've got this.