“It gets easier”

[pleaseeatdinner]

I’ve seen this said on here to so many parents struggling and up until recently I would have agreed. I had a very challenging time when my ds was a toddler and I have to admit I really didn’t enjoy parenting him. He started to improve at around four and I had a niceish year with him.

Now things are deteriorating again (he’s 5 3/4) and he’s angry, shouty, demands things and then whines and whinges when I say no, boisterous and difficult to contain sometimes, winds up other children, makes a mess and won’t clear it up …

I am sort of inclined to think it’s just going to continue getting worse until he’s a teen which I know sounds awful, but is honestly how I feel.

3 children and honestly, not a huge fan of 5-7 year olds sometimes, drama, impulsive and annoying. 8 onwards though is lovely i think.

Only two and a half years to go? I really thought we’d turned such a corner last summer so it’s disappointing he’s become really hard to manage again.

I always believed the 'it gets easier' thing, but for me it really never did. I think people need to be more mindful when saying it tbh. Some children are harder to parent than others and that's just a fact.

I’ve got teens and I’ve never found this to be true, I find it harder now they are teens. I think people just say it to make people feel better

It did with my DS who was a very tricky toddler with frequent regressions just when you thought you’d turned a corner. He’s just done his A levels and is the calmest, most laid back adult I know (of course this may not be the case for you but I hope this gives you some hope). I was in tears so many times over his behaviour and also frequently counted the minutes to bedtime. It did usually help to look back over a longer term and be able to say that he was better than eg 3 months ago though I appreciate this isn’t you right now)

Thanks. I do worry about him a lot as he really does feel difficult to manage, so argumentative and stroppy and demanding - constantly constantly asking for toys and chocolate and drinks, never seems grateful or appreciative.

’It gets easier’ lmao… it fucking doesnt with 3 teenage girls I can tell you!