15 People Who Know That Being a Parent Is a Constant Battle

Being a parent is arguably the most challenging job out there, demanding your time and energy around the clock for many years. Some might think there’s nothing tough about being a mom or dad — just cooking meals, taking the kid to the park, playing games, and reading bedtime stories. However, the truth is far from that. When a family welcomes a new child, their entire world gets turned upside down.

• Our firstborn was about 18 months old. Walking, but not that agile. I was downstairs on the computer, and the wife yelled down she was using the bathroom and for me to watch him. We misunderstood each other, so he was alone for about 3 minutes. She comes out asking where he is, and he is nowhere to be found in the house.
  Thinking he’s just hiding, we start a full search, only to notice the back patio door is slightly open after a few minutes of hunting. Growing concerned at this point, but figured he just snuck out back. A full search of the fenced/gated yard shows nothing. Now the heartbeat is going.
  Start running out and down the street. Find him 2 blocks down. He was heading to the park, which would have required crossing 2 roads, one of which was a busy one. Nice neighbors found him and were walking him home as they’d recognized us from previous walks. Needless to say, child locks went on all the doors in the house after that. © Rancethetank / Reddit
• I’m a single father. My daughter asked me once, “Where do babies come from?” I don’t like to lie to my daughter, so I found a book for children on the subject. We sat down and went over it in detail.
  In the first grade, a boy told her that children are found in cabbage. But my daughter disagreed and told him everything she knew. The following day, the parents of this boy called me, saying, “How come your 7-year-old is aware of these things? It’s not right.”
  They started threatening me that they would call child protective services and file a police report. And I replied that I would post the recording of our conversation in the parents’ group. I also notified the class teacher to prevent any provocation. She supported me. It’s good that at least teachers are capable of critical thinking. © Overheard / VK

• A friend of mine has been married for 5 years. Suddenly, her husband told her, "Let's have a baby." She asked him, "Will you help me with the baby? How often? Are you ready to deal with my hormonal surges? Will you be able to work for both of us? And if the child gets sick?"
  He quickly interrupted their conversation, saying, "You're sick." © Radostnya / Pikabu
• When my daughter was little, probably about 3, she went with me to shop for some tools. I turned away to look at something and then heard behind me, "Daddy, what's this?"
  "Uh, honey, that's an axe. Please, give it to me."
  She did, and all was well, but I'm glad my wife wasn't there. © retailguy_again / Reddit
• My husband leaves for work early in the morning, so I stay with the kids all day. I recently had food poisoning and had to run to the toilet almost every 5 minutes. With 2 small children (2 and 3 years old), this is a real problem! When I had to run again, I grabbed a bunch of toys, spilled them out in front of the kids, and ran.
  30 seconds of silence, and I heard ringing and rattling. My heart sank into my boots. I ran out, and there sat 2 pranksters, holding the curtain...along with the curtain rod. I can't understand how some mums manage to do makeup and other things. And my husband gets offended that as soon as he returns from work, I immediately ask him to spend at least 15 minutes with the children.

• My wife wanted a second child. I was against it. I'm the only one who works. I want to take the family on holiday and buy a new car. So, she secretly stopped taking pills and one day happily informed me that she was pregnant.
  But her words became the last straw, "When the baby is born, you'll change your mind and become a happy dad." I just walked away and filed for divorce. I will never set foot in a house where my opinion means nothing. © Overheard / Ideer
• My toddler grabbed a stick of butter out of the fridge and tossed it into the fish tank. Minutes later, all the fish were floating dead in the fish tank. It was the last time we owned fish. © earthenfirebrand / Reddit
• I met my future wife. After living together, I realized that she was the one. I proposed to her. Before starting the wedding arrangements, we discussed our life together in detail: family, career, money, and even our actions in case of divorce. To give birth, my wife had to go through 9 circles of hell: miscarriage, depression, diagnoses of "infertility," endless doctors, pregnancy, endless stress, and difficult childbirth.
  We were lucky and had a wonderful, healthy baby. I held my wife's hand when she gave birth. In the first days, our hearts sank with the baby's every sneeze. My wife had postpartum depression. Sleepless nights, breast refusal, hospital, fear.
  Did we ever regret that we got into all this? No! Do I want more children? I do! Would I ask my wife to go through all this again? Never! © BLAHAJ / Pikabu

• My distant relatives have a daughter who, as a child, could go 2 or 3 days without eating if her parents refused to fulfill some of her whims. The parents didn't try to compromise and just waited until the girl was hungry enough to eat a bowl of soup. But since they continued to spoil the girl and indulged some of her whims, the same thing happened again, again, and again. Eventually, this passed, but she developed new, sophisticated manipulation techniques, such as running away. © Singing Coon / ADME
• I raise a teenage daughter by myself, she's 14 years old. But she can't understand how to spend money properly. I give her pocket money, and we agree on what things she can buy on it. For example, a T-shirt without flashy pictures, so that she can wear it to school.
  But now she wants to stand out: she demands a manicure, eyebrow correction, and expensive makeup because all the girls in the class have them. I don't have extra money for these things. And my daughter throws tantrums when I get manicures! But I'm almost 40 years old, I'm a grown woman, I earn money and I decide how to spend my money.
  Several times I left her money for groceries, and she bought just a little bit but got a manicure. I gave her money for new shoes, as she had outgrown her old ones, and let her choose them herself. And she spent it on a manicure, but not just a regular manicure! Crazy design, long nails, terrible!
  Naturally, I told her that she wouldn't get new shoes and that those shoes were on her nails now. She cried and threw a tantrum. Our daddy pays minimal child support. And I count every penny, but my daughter doesn't care. Talking to her doesn't help. © Overheard / Ideer

• We live in a private house and keep a dog. Everyone in our family is either working or studying, so no one is home in the daytime.
  Once I returned home in the evening, my younger brother, a student, told me that when he returned home, the neighbor started yelling at him that our dog had bitten her 4-year-old son. When asked, “How?” — she replied, “My son decided to play in your backyard, but as soon as he came in, he was immediately attacked by your dog.” We have a 6-foot fence and a sign saying “Beware of dog.” © Overheard / Ideer
• My daughter is 3 years old. The scary sound coming from the nursery is when there is silence and then “Ouch.” But the scariest thing about this sound is that the child reacts with the same “Ouch” to small things like paint spilled on the carpet, as well as to real dangers. By the time you get to the nursery, you have a few more gray hairs. © Nastassya / ADME
• My son had colic when he was a baby. He couldn’t sleep in bed, only in my arms. Later, he was afraid to stay alone, “Mum, don’t close the door to the toilet, I’m afraid.” We had to agree that I would still close the door, but I would talk to him. © Olga_S / ADME

• I am 42, female, married, have a 16-year-old son. But the marriage is heading for divorce because my husband wants to become a daddy again. He wasn't involved in raising our first child. He had no valid reasons for that. He wasn't busy with work, but something was always more important than spending time with his son.
  Now the boy is a teenager who sees his father as an ATM with the extended functionality of a taxi driver. We have a better relationship, but it's strained too. I suggest my husband calm down, to support our son while he's preparing for college and improve their relationship with normal methods, instead of buying him a gaming console. But my husband has given up on the child and now wants a new one, who he wants to raise from the very beginning.
  I've got to know him pretty well over 20 years, and I don't believe him at all. But even if I did, I don't need a baby at 40, I don't have the energy for that. So, my husband has started threatening me that he'll find another woman who'll have a child for him. © Podsushano / VK
• One of my uncles locked Grandma out of the house once when he was a toddler. She heard him singing, "flour, sugar, coffee, four, sugar, coffee, flour, sugar..." Sure enough, when she got back in, there was a pile on the floor of flour, sugar, and coffee that he'd scooped out a spoonful at a time. She said it was worth cleaning up the mess since she knew exactly what he was up to the whole time she was outside. © BobosBigSister / Reddit

Having a child is an ongoing emotional rollercoaster. One mother recounted an experience when her 4-year-old daughter came back from her dad’s house visibly upset about something that had happened and revealed an extremely inappropriate behavior of his girlfriend. Read more here.