what for everyone has been the most challenging aspect/phase of parenting?

[minxofmancunia]

dd is 2.6 for me it has been

1. Trying to get her from breast to bottle

2. the current challenge b***y potty training!!

Still got the teenage years to come!

Bollocks- you mean that I should be enjoying this bit? That this is the easy/ good bit? Oh dear

oh yes!!!

the toddler tantrum is small fry next to the teen version!

Not bieng able to sleep for more than 2-3 hours till he was nearly 4.

chronic exhaustion, pnd.

behaviour,

destructiveness, marking every wall in my house, breaking nearly every toy that we have ever bought him.
damaging most of my skirting bourds that i lovingly sanded down and varnished.
bathroom florr is rotton from him pouring out pots of water.
Huge scratch across my new flat screen tv one week after it arrived.

BUT worst of all, other peoples opinions,reactions and lack of caring sympathy for me and dh and for ds.
That has by far been the hardest thing to deal with and to get over.
things people have said to me about my son will forever haunt me and will never leave me.

pregnancy

Destructive hyperactivity

Them fighting with each other, or winding up DH. Them Whinging at me.
DS1 is almighty stubborn and selfish.

Never ending cleaning of the highchair and kitchen floor after every meal/snack (BLW).

Shoe shops
Haircuts
Statementing

probably in that order

Lack of sleep (both dc)

Toilet training (dd)

Constant screaming (ds)

And we haven't even got as far as having a 3 year old yet!

My DD is 10 and OMG!! Just recently I have had to make some difficult decisions. She is appoaching the age where I have to relinquich my "contol" (for want of a better word) and let her spead her wings and find her own feet!!

Beleive me - this has been a zillion times harder than the sleepless nights, potty training, temper tantrums etc etc. I would never have believed it 7 or 8 years ago but bloody hell - its getting hard.

And the sad fact is - its gonna get harder over the next few years!! I reckon the teenage years are going to be the toughest test of all!

ds(6) being loopy
my teenager is a breeze

first baby was sick and didn't sleep. I remember very little of the first year except feeling a complete failure because no-one would believe there was a problem.

However the teenage years are probably worse.

I would have to say its the relentless aspect for me.

Its all the time forever and ever!!

I look at my FIL trudging round here with his toolbox to assist do it all for DH with some job and think 'OMG I'm never getting away from them!!'

my number two is

COOKING

i never signed up to being a full time chef

definately the teens !!! dd's 15 and 17, oh my god !! did i die and go to hell atleast when they are little we could discipline them and 9 out of ten times they will listen,ok, maybe 6 out of ten, threaten to take something away and they would promise to be good !!! i took my 15 yr old DDs TV recently due to poor behaviour at school, she threw the DVD player out the bedroom door and screamed "you might aswell have that too !! still no improvement, all i get now is abuse about being the worlds worst and how she hates me and cant wait to move out, all the teething pain screaming and sleepless night i am oing through with my 7 month DS is pure heaven compared to the traumas of teens.

leenie have you got a gap then ?!!

I WORSHIP the under 7's in our house becasue i know how quickly it changes

all the 'i love my mummy' utterances change to 'I hate you - you ruin my life'

thought i would never hear the latter and

( actually its all calm chez otter these days' )HUGS a tree to be on the safe side

The constant mess as I am really untidy, so is my husband,,,and we have been joined by another 4 messy people...never seem to be on top of it....especially as I am easily distracted by posting on here rather than dealing with the mess. Squabbles were driving me nuts...better now though..it all just ebbs and flows...think that hardest thing is the pendulum shift of emotions in minutes from...this is so sweet to I could murder that one

the early weeks months with twins
feeding twins
the toddler months with twins (running in opposite directions)

however, before anyone should get the crazy idea that having twins is hard work, they're now 5 and lovely together, it was all worth it (until they hit puberty, obv )

when they're all ill. Especially if I'm ill at the same time (this can include lack o sleep too)