Many parents would agree that raising a kid is very, very hard, but just as rewarding at the same time. Research shows that having a kid, particularly in the early stages, does cause a measurable amount of happiness for the parents. Even more so if they have a second child. However, the same study also suggests that after the third child, each additional kid has a negligible effect on happiness.
Experts also suggest that expecting or even current parents look into parental training and education programs. Like many things in life, we often don’t notice our mistakes until we are halfway through the task, so it can be helpful to get some tips and tricks from experts. After all, the art of parenting is thousands of years old, so it would be best to tap into this vast list of knowledge.
Of course, one of the oldest lessons is that you don’t need to do it all yourself. It takes a village, as the old saying goes. While that is perhaps a bit too many people for this day and age, it is important that parents have social support networks to help out. At the very least, a familial babysitter is always handy. This is why friends, good neighbors, and family are all vital tools for a new parent.
At the same time, parenting never stops evolving. Because we live in a society where people have jobs and there are entire careers around looking after someone elses children, even some basic concepts in parenting are regularly shifting. At the same time, the lives of parents are never static, with new opportunities, jobs, and situations happening all the time.
This is most visible in the sorts of parenting styles people adopt when raising their own children. The past, by and large, was dominated by an authoritarian style of parenting, where the adult sets strict rules and ensures the kid follows them to the letter. This version, thankfully, is slowly disappearing, as parents realize that it’s a lot of energy to keep a fully sentient human in check and it doesn’t necessarily make them a better person.
If all this sounds like too much, don’t fear, parenting might be a challenge, but it has its absolutely wholesome and hilarious moments at the same time. The tweets displayed here are proof of that. If you want to see some more, Bored Panda has got you covered, check out our collection of parenting Tweets from July.
