No matter how prepared parents try to be, raising children is far more difficult than mothers & dads ever imagine. The intensity of emotions, along with the relentless demands & obligations, rock parents to their core. How do parents cope? Conscientious mothers & fathers read about how to best meet their kid’s needs. To take a number of the pressure off, they talk to other parents about how they handle toilet training, temper tantrums or home work issues.
This darker side of parenthood is not a subject parents usually like to speak about.
The truth is parenthood includes an assortment of feelings. The ups & downs of raising kids are scary & unpredictable. Parents cannot wait until their kids learn to walk, but with the first step comes the worry about them wandering away.
Children lie, keep secrets, make mistakes & feel they are invincible. For parents who are plagued by low self-esteem & frequent self-criticism, it is a lovely suggestion to seek help. Painful feelings allowed to fester & feeling terrible inside are not very conducive to effective parenting or satisfying relative’s relationships. Maintaining self-control, self-respect, & respect of others, even when tempers flair, are important parental tasks.
The more clearly parents understand & accept their own emotions, the better prepared they’ll be to help their kids understand theirs.