Is it a myth that parenting gets easier?

[upthearsenal]

I have 2 DC age 4.6 and 20 months. I was led to believe that it gets easier. Compared to 1 year ago, it has become ever so slightly easier in the physical sense but no more.

I love my Children am 100% confident I will give my all to them forever, but does it get easier? Or is this it?

Yes, love, it does. Just hang on in there. Mine are now 13 and nearly 11 and life is infinitely easier!

I

It

Age 3-12 I adored DS he was so easy

Age 12 and he's a pre-teen horror so it's hard work again

It does!!! Keep going.

Yes - MUCH easier.
It helps that you start to return to getting a good night's sleep.
My youngest is 12 now - others are teens, and I love it, but found the baby years really, really hard.

Yup, totally agree it DOES get so very much easier. The toddler years are a strain & flipping tough. The school days are now a doodle : )

As mother inferior said - hang on in there!

My ds is 2 3/4 and I think it's easier now cos generally he can tell me what he needs. I used to find the guessing stressful!

I think it gets different - some things are easier, some are harder.

Much easier, my DDs are 13&16 and even in the middle of GCSEs it's a million times easier than having a 2y DD1 again.

DD1 was an adorable toddler, but she totaly ignored toys in favour of investigating her environment. If you took your eye off her for a split second she was climbing the book case to get to some adult item she shouldn't touch.

No worked for .5 sec before she was off fiddling with something else.

It's tiring just remembering, yes OP it gets easier.

Myth. My school age dc's are just as exhausting as pre-schoolers, possibly more. I'm proper tired these days.

I think toddlers are more physically exhausting but older kids are mentally exhusting - there is so much more to remember and know about when they get to school, especially secondary.

Mind I do have 4 children between the age of 3-17 so maybe that's why I'm tired :)

I have a 15 year old DS and yes, it's absolutely a myth . He used to be such a sweet boy...

I don't know.

I think a lot depends on the child and their personality.

My 3 were quite easy babies, all slept through by 6 months. I bf and found it easy just to go anywhere, food on tap and so on. Pretty normal toddlers, but all in bed asleep by 7:30.

When dc1 was 7 he was going through a very hard patch, very angry and mouthing off to me, doing the opposite of what he was told, running off and so on. At the same time dc3 was a toddler. I remember thinking that toddler tantrums are a piece of cake compared to 7 yo tantrums.

So I think that the early years are (or can be) much harder in terms of physical tiredness, and it can be very relentless if you have no support. Once they are older, especially when they are at school, there are more breaks and it isn't so physical, but they go to bed later, so your down time starts later (mine now isn't till 10 pm) and it is emotionally and mentally much harder.

Then again my 11 yo is so funny and good to be around, (when he isn't flouncing) that I really enjoy his company (most of the time)

I did find that once my toddlers could chat to me they were much much easier

It did briefly...

I think it doesn't necessarily get easier but the challenges are different. yes you get proper sleep and more time to yourself but they need taking places and picking up etc. Their problems are no longer ones you can solve with a cuddle and a choc biscuit. they still fight and argue and don't do what I ask etc. I can get things done though now. They don't need you to be physically there with them.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, see my sibling arguments post Arsenal.

You would think in theory it should get easier as they mature and gain independence. Shouldn't it????????? I'm still waiting.

It's got progressively harder for me with no end in sight.

We have twin boys who are nearly five. It has been SOOOOOOOO much easier year on year.

But now I am expecting DS3 - back to the start again....

My eldest is 21 in a couple of weeks. I'm still waiting for it to get easier.

Surely it depends on what sort of baby and older child you get.

if you have a very easy baby then the toddler stage may seem more difficult than the baby stage

if you have a difficult baby then toddlerhood is probably a delight by comparison (my experience)

if you have an easy baby and toddler and primary age child and then a rebellious teenager then that will be a shock

I also think parents of older children tend to have rose tinted spectacles about what the younger ages were truly like - I am already feeling nostalgic about the tiny baby stage even though my head tells me it was hell on earth for a few months.

I think you remember the age your DC were, on average, more work than their peers.

All babies are hard work. Most toddlers are, but DD1's ability to find mischief in an empty room far exceeded any other toddler I knew at the time. DD2 was a holiday by comparison.

DS1 is really easy now as he's left home and moved in with his GF, LOL

To be honest I found the 2.5 to 5 age hardest. My middle son is 16 and pretty easy now - he's not a typical teen due to aspergers but has had his own issues over the years.

DS3 is 7 and just lovely now :D He's quite intense but is really good company and when the weather is good he plays out with his friends in the street so is less in my face full on for me :D

A grandma outside school today told me she worries about her 45 year old daughter more now than ever

So it may get easier physically

But I dunno about mentally!