Anonymous User
What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 |
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What is the worst part about being a parent?
Justine Davies
Monday, January 05, 2009 at 11:12am
Well, Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year) everyone, I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday week. Our Christmas day (which started at 5am) was fantastic, filled with paper and plastic and excited kids and extended family with more excited kids. Plenty of food, wine, noise and most important of all, laughter. Good fun.
Thanks to all the readers who responded with positive answers to my “what is your favourite part about being a parent†question the other week. Some fantastic comments and it was great to read some examples of the joy that our kids can bring to our lives from birth right through to adulthood. Their innocence, their joy in simple things, the way they say “I love youâ€, tucking them into bed, the way they smell, feel, smile and giggle. It’s beautiful.
However in addition to the happy, positive comments I also received a number of negative comments, which didn’t make it onto the page. Mainly because, as I said at the start of the blog, I was really wanting it to be a nice, feel-good topic for the festive season. Obviously some readers just didn’t get that hint though and assumed that what I really meant by the question: “What is your favourite part about being a parent?†was more like: “What really pisses you off about other people’s kids?†or “What really pisses you off about your own kids†or “Tell us all exactly why you are never, ever going to have kids.â€
From complaints about sagging breasts and drained bank accounts to loss of figure and independence, to a lack of gratitude, manners and “me timeâ€, there seem to be many and varied levels of parental angst out there.
From the mother who declared that having children was the worst decision she has ever made and has ruined her life to the parent who declared all three of his/her children to be uncaring, ungrateful and conniving to the presumably non-parent who wrote that the best thing about being a parent is “that nauseating (yet desperate) air of superiority you can use as a crutch to cover up your other failures in life, while alienating your childless friends and relatives.†These comments and more would indicate that there is a mixture of anger, frustration, jealousy and who knows what else out there.
So for all those who think that being a parent has more cons than pros – this is your week. Go for it – tell us all why it’s just so goddam awful. My personal kiddie gripes? Changing pooey nappies. That’s about it though, the rest is up to you.
And just as I didn’t publish any negative comments in the previous post, I won’t publish any positive comments this week. So go for it.
http://blogs.news.com.au/moneymum/index.php/news/comments/what/#commentsmore
Anonymous User
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 4,532 |
Anonymous User
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 |
CF Uter
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,431 |
Gigabyte
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 08, 2009 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 5,275 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 4,532 |
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clematis
Update: there's a buncha comments posted now, at http://blogs.news.com.au/moneymum/index.php/news/comments/what/47102/P0/. Excerpts:
I love my kids (two of them). But if I could turn back time, I would tell myself that it’s just not worth it. It’s not worth the slashed income and rising expenses, the constant lack of sleep, the short tempers, the strain on the relationship, the inability to do something spontaneous, the lack of adult conversation and the sacrifice of the time I used to spend doing the things I love.
..........And so on.
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 2,348 |
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Rose Red
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clematis
Update: there's a buncha comments posted now, at http://blogs.news.com.au/moneymum/index.php/news/comments/what/47102/P0/. Excerpts:
I love my kids (two of them). But if I could turn back time, I would tell myself that it’s just not worth it. It’s not worth the slashed income and rising expenses, the constant lack of sleep, the short tempers, the strain on the relationship, the inability to do something spontaneous, the lack of adult conversation and the sacrifice of the time I used to spend doing the things I love.
..........And so on.
This is a thing of beauty.
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 12,447 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 4,532 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 12, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,982 |
Why?
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 14, 2009 |
Anonymous User
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 14, 2009 |
The Phan
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 15, 2009 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 15, 2009 | Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 4,532 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,897 |
Anonymous User
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 |
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CF West
Breeders live their lives servitude to the little annoying spawns.
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KidFreeLuvnLife
The worst part of being a parent is that it's a self-created hell escapable only by death.
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,897 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 3,846 |
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Rose Red
I actually thought of another, very superficial positive to being CF.
If you ever end up in the paper, your name will not be immediately followed by the number of children you have.
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,431 |
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kidlesskim
Why do they nearly always qualify everything negative that they say, like 80 or 100 "I wish I never had kyds" type comments with, "......but I LOVE LOVE LOVE them to pieces!!!!", or...."....but I wouldn't change it for anything in the worlllllddddd!!!!!!!!.", or"...now, I LOVE my kyds, don't get me wrong....but I wish that they had never been born". Who are they trying to convince?
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 9,983 |
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,269 |
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I actually thought of another, very superficial positive to being CF.
If you ever end up in the paper, your name will not be immediately followed by the number of children you have.
Gigabyte
Re: What is the worst part about being a parent? January 16, 2009 |
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Cambion
The worst part about being a parent...is all of it, from birth to death. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely nothing worthwhile or rewarding about having kids because they will destroy you physically, mentally, and financially. And there's no guarantee that when they turn 18 they'll stop being money leeches. There's no guarantee a teen daughter won't get knocked up...she'll keep it and then make her own parents raise it. There's no guarantee the kid will grow into a useful individual, even if you raise them right. There's no guarantee your kid will be there for you when you're too infirm to care for yourself. It's a total crap shoot and an absurd creature to invest so much time, money and effort in.