Is it possible that children are more difficult than they once were? Or do we just complain more?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – parenting is so much harder than I ever thought it would be.
Amongst the toddler joy and laughter there’s the constant battles, questioning your decisions, debating with your partner over tactics, berating yourself when you do the wrong thing...the list goes on.
And like many of my friends, I’ve turned to my own mother for advice and to vent.
“Was I ever like this at 3? What about my sisters? I don’t ever remember refusing to go bed, how did you get me to sleep? How did you cope?”
Frustratingly Mum apparently never went through half of the stuff myself and my sister (who has three boys) are currently in the thick of. Unlike me, she also had a husband who didn’t cook, clean or wipe bums; and she didn’t use modern conveniences such as disposable nappies, ATMs, online shopping or iPads to get more things done. Oh and she also did secretarial work for my father’s business until 1am while we were all in bed, so she was a working mum too.
Basically she had a lot less help than me, yet seemed to get through the toddler wilderness years relatively unscathed. How, how I
Mum believes the reason is perhaps because my sister and I both have boys and she had three girls - because you know, "girls are easier". Bulldust! I have friends with daughters who pull their hair out on a regular basis just like me. So it can't be that.
A lot of my friends have asked their mothers too, who all seem to have similar memories of rearing their toddlers - "No I don't remember you doing anything like that."
So what gives then? Here are some of my theories:
The generation before just doesn't remember
Similar to how many mothers don't remember the pain of childbirth (unlike myself, I ain't never forgetting that!), I think they might have blocked out the bad memories and just can't recall how difficult it was. It was quite a few decades ago after all so who can blame them?
Children are more difficult now
When you consider the 'instant culture' we now live in, toxic chemicals in food and all around us, and constant stimulants thanks to increased technology devices; is this idea really that far fetched? I think not. Sure I was exposed to a bit of all this growing up, but nowhere near the amount that's around most kids today.
Talking to others about parenthood struggles can be extremely therapeutic and helpful, particularly when you feel like you're drowning and get great advice back. But perhaps oversharing about what little Johnny did every two seconds is the modern mum's downfall? Because when you constantly talk about something and people respond, the incident remains very much alive when perhaps it might have already disappeared into a distant memory (which might be what you actually need to battle through).
So what is it then that makes parenting seem so much harder now than before? Is it grandparents with selective memories, or that
Throwing another option into the ring is that perhaps parents these days are trying too hard to be the parent they think they should be, instead of being guided by instinct and enjoying the little stuff.
I had the pleasure of reviewing Angela Mollard's new book, The Smallest Things - Thoughts on making a happy family, for stylem magazine recently. I asked the author why she thought modern mums found it harder than previous generations and this was her response:
"Our generation is being sold an image as confected as a cupcake. You can have it all, we are told, so we weight the various components and strive to present to the world the perfect version of ourselves. But like cupcakes - which offer only saccharine emptiness - it's a fraud. We cannot be everything to everybody - we can only focus on what matters to us."
Can I get an Amen?! (and a cupcake please).
Not forgetting to enjoy our children is the most important thing. So I think it's time to stop quizzing the madness and jump on the crazy train...
Do you think parents complain too much?