Question for those with kids.

[cassanova]

My cousin was saying that raising children is the hardest job in the world. I was amazed at how many people agreed with that statement. Now, I'm not saying it's not frustrating and difficult job at times, but c'mon, the hardest job in the world? I highly doubt that. I'd think a nuclear physicist's job is a lot harder than raising a child.

Furthermore, her and all her friends said I haven't a clue as to what it takes to raise a child, because I do not have any of my own. I find that not only highly insulting not only to myself, but to other people that choose not to have children at my age. Just because we don't have children doesn't mean we don't know how to raise one.

[macaroni tony]

You can clock out of secular work.

You can't clock out of parenthood.

And you may at least "have a clue" how to raise a child, but you don't know how. Because you don't have any. How could you? No need to take offense.

[bigtexashonk]

Certainly the most important job.

[DwaynieAD]

raising a dog is more difficult than raising a child..

most thankless or most worry filled job in the world, yeah then i'll agree

[Relic]

Hardest when you factor in emotional impact.

[fourstringdrums]

"She has the hardest job in the world..she's a mother. Oh yes, all those mothers who die every year from black lung" - Bill Burr

[macaroni tony]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

"She has the hardest job in the world..she's a mother. Oh yes, all those mothers who die every year from black lung" - Bill Burr

HAHAHA!!! That's what I was thinking of, too.

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by cassanova

My cousin was saying that raising children is the hardest job in the world. I was amazed at how many people agreed with that statement. Now, I'm not saying it's not frustrating and difficult job at times, but c'mon, the hardest job in the world? I highly doubt that. I'd think a nuclear physicist's job is a lot harder than raising a child.

Your cousin is right. It is the hardest job in the world. My wife and I successfully raised three children into adulthood, where all three are now successful, responsible adults. But it was no walk in the park. For one thing, it's the only job I know of where there is no training to be had, it's all on-the-job training. For another thing, kids depend on you 100% all the way into adulthood, and you'd better be there and not let them down, because if you do, there WILL be consequences later.

Furthermore, her and all her friends said I haven't a clue as to what it takes to raise a child, because I do not have any of my own. I find that not only highly insulting not only to myself, but to other people that choose not to have children at my age. Just because we don't have children doesn't mean we don't know how to raise one.

Again, she's right. You don't have a clue. None of us do. You can be insulted all you want, until you've had a child of your own you'll never know what it's like to raise one. Take it from all of us here who have had children, none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. And we made a ton of mistakes along the way. But you know what? It's the most rewarding job on Earth, by far. The sorrows you forget the next day, the joys stay with you forever. cassanova, I hope you'll have kids someday - you won't regret it. I know I never did!

[hover]

cassanova, might I suggest with a little perspective, you might see validity in their take on it. But you currently do not have that perspective.

Surely not the "hardest" in a scholarly sense, but that is not what they are getting at at all. It is not a job to me, per se, but it is something that will get you to second guess almost every move you make along the journey, as you grow together... or at least take pause to be sure they are the right choices... jus sayin...it's also the most rewarding experience. That's why I do it for free.

Parenting is not one-sided. It's participatory. You learn from each other.

[Relic]

hell yeah. Good post strat

[stratovani]

Originally Posted by Relic

hell yeah. Good post strat

Thanks, Relic! Appreciate it!

[macaroni tony]

For a Pats fan, you're all right

[hover]

I dunno where your post went cass, but your take that the financial thing being the hardest part is incredibly wrong. That is necessary, sure, as it would be without kids too.... but it is secondary in the bigger picture. Just wait, someday you may know.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by cassanova

Though you can't clock out of parenthood like you can a secular job, there are in fact, many times when you're not actually parenting. Such as when the kids are at school, at friends houses, and any other activity where they are not in your presence.

Not really cass. You parent 24/7. It's hard to explain but you're constantly thinking about them, worrying about them, washing their clothes so they look good in school, etc etc it NEVER ever ever ends.

The hardest part IMO would be the financial aspects. Otherwise, you praise/discipline them when necessary, instill morals/values, nurture, feed, clothe, set/enforce boundaries, take care of them when sick, protect them as best you can, help educate them, I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but none of that requires having your own child to know how to raise one.

That's a really really simplistic outlook though - not that your list of things is incorrect, but you're missing a whole emotional aspect that you really cant understand until you have a child of your own.

There are also other things in life that prepare us for raising children, ex: helping to raise nieces and nephews, younger siblings, and unless your parent was a complete douche bag, the observational learning that we all hopefully acquired from our own parents raising us.

True that!

[guy n. cognito]

Nothing in this thread surprises me......

[stratovani]

This might be a bit simplistic (or maybe not), but parenting is:

- having your baby screaming in your ear at 3AM because his diaper is full of poop, or he's colicky, or teething, or hungry, and you have to get up for work at 5AM.

- getting a call at work from the hospital because your kid slipped off his bike and hit his head on the asphalt.

- being there when your son crosses the Bridge of Life from Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting.

- having the local teenage boys ogling your daughter even though you're standing next to her and you're giving them the Ronnie James Dio Evil Eye!

- when your child borrows your car for the first time to go out on a date. For a Dad, that's nerve-wracking at its extreme!

- the look on their faces when, on Christmas morning, you crouch down next to a tree full of gifts and your scream out "WOW! Look what Santa brought!" Then they come running in and you capture that look on film!

- the time when the neighbors, who are Black, come over with that look on their faces that says "Guess what your son called my daughter!" I think I went into the Guinness Book of World Records for most apologies in one minute!

- the time a couple of years ago when, for Father's Day, they all chipped in and got me tickets to see Rush! My feet didn't touch the ground for the rest of that day!

I could go on and on, but I think everybody gets the picture. Raising children is a never-ending adventure. And while you could probably learn a few things about it, it's the "intangibles" (for lack of a better word) that make it the most difficult yet most rewarding job ever.

[BartmanPDX]

It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Not physically, or intellectually but emotionally nothing else compares. I'd bet my wife (EE PhD who designs computer chips) would say being a stay-at-home parent is harder than her job, though we are certainly a special case.

When you have problems on the job, they're just job problems. A career change can fix all that. When there are problems with your child, it's a lot more serious. And some of those problems can't be fixed, which is more heartbreaking than most people realize.

[guy n. cognito]

The reason there are so many ****ed up kids in this world is because many people, like our friend cass, think that the hardest part about having kids is the money........

[nutdog]

Cass, don't let these guys fool you. They just want your pity and admiration. It's a cakewalk. Easiest thing I've ever done. But that was because I knew everything about it before I started.

Once they could walk I taught them to how to fetch my slippers. Doing dishes, taking out the garbage, washing my car, yard work...all the chores I used to do. What was I thinking? And of course they have a cocktail and a cigar waiting on me when I get home from work.

No worries. Free servants. That's what it's all about.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I don't have kids.

But I'd say it's certainly the hardest job to do RIGHT!

(ps, nuclear physics isn't that complicated in the grand scheme, neither is being a rocket scientist )

Tho you do need different drives to do difficult regular work vs parenting (not that they are in any way mutually exclusive).