Do you like being a parent?-honestly?

Yeah I do enjoy it but I’ve been a parent since I was nineteen. If i was to have another baby/toddler now though my answer would be different.

Yep a mini little defiant you!

you can still win the debate though

Love it
best part of life for both me & H
two boys 17/15
they are close and adore each other which must help

they are most of the time a joy to have and always have been

yes some stressful times but most things that are worthwhile are hard

but we don’t hanker after our pre-kids life
and we are looking towards them going to uni

I think you just have to lean into where you are right now - at 7 you can start watching less baby movies - read better bedtime stories they can get dressed for school put shoes on help with house jobs get themselves a drink etc

you see them learn how to swim and ride a bike and find out what hobbies they actually enjoy

they start learning stuff in school we didn’t do teach you things

they can carry a little ruck sack on days out and don’t whinge at waiting

but still have a favourite teddy and get excited by a Friday ice cream from the ice cream van

they start eating more interesting food like curry and you can leave them whilst you do some jobs

To add, I found it much easier once I could

Sleep through the night
Not have to change nappies
Nor have to go loaded with nappies wipes and spare clothes everyone I wanted to nip out
Not have to worry that my child is going to leg it if I didn’t hold their hand

A lot more long distance travel without kid only entertainment- my DC is able to contribute to the itinerary and now I can reason - we do things that you enjoy and sometimes you’ll have to sit through things that are boring for you that we want to do and not complain (surprisingly, he’s ended up enjoying most of said things!).
it used to be very hard for us to leave for date nights and we’d frequently get a call he was very upset so we cut it short. Now it’s not an issue.
it feels like he’s a full and cooperative member of the family now if that makes sense🤣

On the whole yes I love it, don’t get me wrong, there are hard days and days where I’m tired and just don’t want the responsibility.

The teenage years were the wprst.

Is there anything in particular that you’re finding hard op? Anything you want advice with or to have a rant about?

What is it that you're finding stressful? Is your DD having behaviour issues or is it lack of time to yourself, or something else?

It gets better again about age 24. That’s not meant flippantly - that’s my experience.

I’m a bit of the opposite OP. Mine is 7 as well. I found the first 4-5 yrs a slog and very unpleasant; I missed my pre kid days every single day, the restrictiveness was unbearable. The last 2 yrs have gotten much better and we are very close to living our lives again with more freedom, the only difference being a small person joining us.

My dd is an adult now, but I've always loved being her mum at every stage.

I do think it's easier only having one, and perhaps a lot depends on the temperament of the child as well.

Overall, yes. Doesn’t mean I enjoy every minute, but in general I enjoy the kids and I would make the same choices again. I don’t miss my old life because 13 years into parenthood I’ve forgotten what it looked like and I don’t see much point thinking about what could have been.

As for age - I didn’t enjoy the toddler stage, but I loved everything from about age 3 upwards. The one thing I’ve learnt is that everything is a phase with kids - if it seems hard now it’ll probably change soon. If it seems easy the other shoe will drop tomorrow! Everything seems like it’ll be forever, but it passes.

I love it but it’s definitely not easy. I’ve been a parent since I was 17 so never really knew what I could be missing out on. I guess I’ll find out soon as the youngest is flying the nest this year!

I am mum to two lads 18 and 20. The teenage year's were hard with both of them. They were struggling a lot with school and personal stuff but didn't want/know how to talk to me about things. Now they are older we have a easier relationship. They are more open to talk with. Hang in there, it will get better x
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