What is the hardest age for parents
The difficulty of parenthood comes in waves. With respect to children being under the age of 5, the age of 2 seems to be a good spot for parents to reminisce about the hard times.
Becoming a Toddler
At the age of 2 and 3, babies are just becoming toddlers, they are learning to communicate with words very clearly and conjugate sentences. This causes a lot of frustration with miscommunication. They will also start to show interest in potty training towards the end of that year. Aside from the first year, the second year is one of the most transformative times for babies.
Becoming a Kid
Age 5 to 6 can be especially difficult for parents as children start to go to school and learn a new routine. They also become less dependent on their parents and start to develop a trust and bond with teachers and friends. This can be a hard time for parents because their children are not solely dependent on them for conversation and learning.
Be prepared for them to ask questions that you may not have the answer for or to bring up topics that you may feel they are too young for. Here is a link on how to talk to you kids about the sex talk and what is appropriate at what age.
Adolescence
Between the ages of 6-10 life is good. Your kids are gems, they listen well, they are respectful and they rely on you for most of their needs. They also learn key skills to become independent. Cherish these short years.
The Preteen and Teen Years
A lot of experienced parents talk about the trying times of the teenage years. However, the trying times can start before teen years hit.
Puberty can start as early as age 9 in both boys and girls. With it bringing on significant changes both physically and emotionally. Parents should prepare their children for this transition so they are not getting misinformation from friends, the media, or improper internet searches.
If a parent is uncomfortable taking on this conversation, be present with a doctor to have the discussion.
What to explain to a girl
Her body will change physically, hips widen, breasts develop, hair in unfamiliar places and her period will start. These can be painful and your daughter needs to understand what the effects of these will be on her.
This time in a girls life is a very important time to guide them in personal hygiene as they start to sweat and have a lot of body odor.
There will also be significant emotion developments during this time. Your daughter may even seem sad or depressed. Or extremely happy and ready for any challenge. This could change at any moment.
Here is a resource that explains this quite nicely.
What to explain to a boy
His body will change physically, hips widen, shoulders broaden, hair in unfamiliar places (face, armpits, chest, legs, scrotum and penis), significant changes in height and weight, and growth of the penis organ and changes to the testicles. The nipples may also be tender as the peck develops. The voice will change and crack as it stabilizes. Facial features will change and he will most likely need to start shaving (if you can convince him to).
Their muscles will also start to develop and become more pronounced. It would also be important to talk to your son about his penis and an erection. A random erection, which can happen frequently, can lead to ejaculation (when semen ejects from the penis tip). It would also be helpful to explain to your sons that semen can fertilize an egg. Equipping them with this information and a caution of what sex is, is an important conversation before they have "created" a commitment. Sons will either develop a huge interest in sex or want nothing to do with it.
This time in a boy's life is a very important time to guide them in personal hygiene as they start to sweat and have a lot of body odor.
Emotionally they are going to also get sad and depressed at times but the swing of mood will not be as wide as a growing girls.
Here is a resource that explains this quite nicely.
Spending Time with Other People
This is the time when teens start to develop an interest in anything but their parents and families. They will usually express desires to spend time with the opposite sex and to find reasons to be away from the home.
This is an important time to allow them to develop. Hopefully, by this time, they have been prepared to interact in society without adult supervision.
Children Move Out
This is reportedly a joyous time for parents at first but the first few months can be difficult as parents learn to connect with one another again instead of having other people in the house all the time.
Enjoy these short years, children will most likely need to move back at some point.
Children Getting Married
The marriage of a child is an awesome event but can cause tension between children and parents as they discover some new sense of independence as they learn to bond with another individual. This is especially true for daughters and mothers. As stated by one doctor, “[M]others may hold on too tight in an effort to ward off anxiety associated with separation and loss.”^3
Parents need to prepare for the separation of their children through all life events. With the culmination of the separation at marriage of their children.
Although the idea that they will be separated is a mental construct in most cases. The unity of family can endure beyond the marriage of a child.
What is the hardest age for parents
To summarize, defining a specific age for parents when children are the most challenging is like running a race without a finish line. It is our recommendation to live in the today and make the most of the trials that your children will bring to you. It does seem that the amount of trials come to an apex in the teen years but the challenges that an adult child can bring are more taxing. For our team, our goal is to be present in our kids' life from the beginning. We wrote a post about it.
Enjoy the precious time you have with your kids.