• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

"It's the most difficult job on the planet. Being a mother"

Status
Not open for further replies.
Being a parent is actually really rewarding and fulfilling. If I had the choice of going to work and busting my ass, or staying home with my daughter as a stay at home dad; I would pick stay at home dad every single day of the week.

If being a parent is in any way "hard" or "difficult", then you simply weren't prepared to be a parent.
 
NuclearSpy said:
Being a parent is actually really rewarding and fulfilling. If I had the choice of going to work and busting my ass, or staying home with my daughter as a stay at home dad; I would pick stay at home dad every single day of the week.

If being a parent is in any way "hard" or "difficult", then you simply weren't prepared to be a parent.
Click to expand...

I don't know anyone who was 'prepared' to be a parent except for people who already had kids.

That's beside the point though, being a mom is tough, no joke...

...but I used to climb 250 ft Wind Turbines in New Mexico during the summer...

kick51 said:
it's so true! it's a site to behold to listen to a hot chick who has never been corrected or contradicted.
Click to expand...

Oh no, I need to bail out of this thread.
 
Manmademan said:
This. My parents worked full time while raising three kids.

My wife and I work at LEAST that much while raising ours.

Stay at home moms who sit around on facebook and bitch about how hard they have it can fuck right off.
Click to expand...

I agree.

But let's not generalize everyone. There are good and bad parents in all camps. Some more obvious then others.
 
I dunno, I'm sure there are harder jobs out there.

Like being a medical test subject for NASA, forced to lay down for 70-90 days or something and only ever poop/piss through a tube.
 
Yeah for some people it's really hard to be a responsible parent.... i guess
Must be personal.

Anyway, it made me smile.

Except for the thought that there are still a lot of families with such a strict mindset about what women and what men should do... makes me a bit sick in the stomach sometimes.
 
kick51 said:
yeah bro, show those moms whose boss.
Click to expand...

Do you disagree? Is your experience somehow different?

Single motherhood is a different story. Juggling childcare and a job with no support is VERY hard. This isn't what I'm talking about though. Mothers who never worked or rarely have, living on someone else's dime and painting what they do as the hardest job in the world.

Those people are clueless.
 
Manmademan said:
Do you disagree? Is your experience somehow different?

Single motherhood is a different story. Juggling childcare and a job with no support is VERY hard. This isn't what I'm talking about though. Mothers who never worked or rarely have, living on someone else's dime and painting what they do as the hardest job in the world.

Those people are clueless.
Click to expand...

That is not a very widespread phenomenon. Mothers being the breadwinners of the family is at an all time high.
 
I'm fairly certain this wasn't meant to be taken so seriously...

even if being a stay-at-home mom was objectively the "hardest job in the world" this shit would still be funny.
 
marrec said:
I don't know anyone who was 'prepared' to be a parent except for people who already had kids.
Click to expand...

If you are unprepared to raise kids, it would be because you never quite experienced life yet. Probably a lack of diversity and education as well. That being said, people can certainly be prepared for parenthood. Its not a myth.

Ultimately, what I think most parents lack is they don't view their sacrifices for their kids as a virtue but rather they view it as a burden.
 
diamount said:
Yeah, because everyone should find it funny because a 'comedian' is saying it.
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but "disrespectful idiot" is a pretty weird reaction to a comedian poking fun at something that has shades of truth to it. He obviously doesn't think being a parent is the easiest thing on the planet...it's a joke. One I find humorous and I'm a single mother of 5.

Ok, I'm not a single mother of 5 but if I were I'd still probably be laughing.
 
NuclearSpy said:
If you are unprepared to raise kids, it would be because you never quite experienced life yet. Probably a lack of diversity and education as well. That being said, people can certainly be prepared for parenthood. Its not a myth.

Ultimately, what I think most parents lack is they don't view their sacrifices for their kids as a virtue but rather they view it as a burden.
Click to expand...

I disagree, nothing you can experience in life quite prepares you for the reality of having to take care of a tiny human being who is so fragile and stupid that they may accidentally suffocate themselves while sleeping unless you build them a small nest from pillows. It's like suddenly living with a very little druggie who constantly ODs and throws up and wakes up crying with the munchies and a shitty diaper.

That said, I wouldn't trade being a father for anything... I just don't think you can really prepare for it until it's happened.
 
cartoon_soldier said:
That is not a very widespread phenomenon. Mothers being the breadwinners of the family is at an all time high.
Click to expand...

4 out of 10 homes are led by "breadwinner mothers". Of those, two thirds of those were single women, about 8.6 million moms. We're not really talking about those, since single motherhood and motherhood are two different things.

The other third were women who just happened to earn more than their husbands. There's a lot of room for interpretation for that last one. Anywhere from outearning the husband by 1 or 2 percent to the husband not working at all. Male dominated sectors like construction were hit MUCH harder than female dominated occupations during the recession, so this number is much higher than usual.


Stay at home moms in contrast are about 5 million or so. So the amount of women who don't work at all is roughly equivalent to those that outearn their husbands by any margin.
 
marrec said:
I disagree, nothing you can experience in life quite prepares you for the reality of having to take care of a tiny human being who is so fragile and stupid that they may accidentally suffocate themselves while sleeping unless you build them a small nest from pillows. It's like suddenly living with a very little druggie who constantly ODs and throws up and wakes up crying with the munchies and a shitty diaper.

That said, I wouldn't trade being a father for anything... I just don't think you can really prepare for it until it's happened.
Click to expand...


some people grew up having to "raise" little brother and sisters for various reasons. I think it is decent preparation.
 
sikma42 said:
some people grew up having to "raise" little brother and sisters for various reasons. I think it is decent preparation.
Click to expand...

Hmm, maybe. I didn't have to do that (I was the youngest) but I'm sure thats probably the best preparation you'll get.

Hell, even with a now 7 y/o, I don't know if we're prepared mentally or financially to have a second child. As much as we want a second child.
 
The big majority of mothers in the history of mankind have had adequate to excellent job perfomance. So by definition motherhood cannot be the most difficult job or one would expect much much worse failure rates. It's stressful, it's time consuming, it's resource consuming and for the huge majority of people it's the most important job they will do in their lives, but it's not the most difficult.
 
marrec said:
I disagree, nothing you can experience in life quite prepares you for the reality of having to take care of a tiny human being who is so fragile and stupid that they may accidentally suffocate themselves while sleeping unless you build them a small nest from pillows. It's like suddenly living with a very little druggie who constantly ODs and throws up and wakes up crying with the munchies and a shitty diaper.

That said, I wouldn't trade being a father for anything... I just don't think you can really prepare for it until it's happened.
Click to expand...

So, let me get this straight. How is anything you described there something you cannot prepare for, yet we can have fire drills, evacuation proceedures, emergency broadcast, etc and be prepared for that?

What you are talking about is a lack of ability to react to situations, not preparations. You're talking as if nurses never taught you how to do cpr or mouth to mouth on an infant before you left the hospital, or as if you don't know how to contact emergency medical services.
 
Being a parent is hard as fuck. It's also the most rewarding experience I've ever felt. To nurture, teach, care for and raise a child is amazing. But it's still hard as fuck and completely draining. Children suck energy out of you and it's hard to be "on" and "the best parent you can possibly be" all the time.
 
NuclearSpy said:
So, let me get this straight. How is anything you described there something you cannot prepare for, yet we can have fire drills, evacuation proceedures, emergency broadcast, etc and be prepared for that?

What you are talking about is a lack of ability to react to situations, not preparations. You're talking as if nurses never taught you how to do cpr or mouth to mouth on an infant before you left the hospital, or as if you don't know how to contact emergency medical services.
Click to expand...

Because every infant is different, and reacts differently to situations and stimuli. Being taught how to do mouth to mouth doesn't prepare you at all for having a child who is autistic, has severe allergic reactions to substances you can't determine, screams through the night instead of sleeping, or is prone to tantrums or fevers.

There's not really a course you can take, and nurses don't cover that before discharging you from the hospital.

This also isnt what emergency services is for, either.
 
I don't know about 'hardest job on the planet', but being a parent and working full time ain't easy, that's for sure.


also, lol@ "being a roofer in the middle of July with red hair"
 
I think the keyword should be important.

Yes, it is one of the most IMPORTANT jobs.

I'll tell ya what some of those stay at home Moms, I think all they do is play on Facebook all day. No doubt not everyone is putting in the work necessary.

Life is certainly not just about me anymore, but some parents still carry along like it is.
 
Vyer said:
I don't know about 'hardest job on the planet', but being a parent and working full time ain't easy, that's for sure.


also, lol@ "being a roofer in the middle of July with red hair"
Click to expand...

Exactly. Many people manage to juggle one or more jobs on TOP of parenthood. Is parenthood easy? Not really, but its rewarding.

Comparing it to getting shot at in Iraq, or losing your limbs lumberjacking or commercial fishing is just insulting though.
 
Manmademan said:
Because every infant is different, and reacts differently to situations and stimuli. Being taught how to do mouth to mouth doesn't prepare you at all for having a child who is autistic, has severe allergic reactions to substances you can't determine, screams through the night instead of sleeping, or is prone to tantrums or fevers.

There's not really a course you can take, and nurses don't cover that before discharging you from the hospital.

This also isnt what emergency services is for, either.
Click to expand...

Yes, all children are different. React in different ways, but how does that impair your ability to nurture them? I brought home a 4 pound premature baby and wife who had a c section. It was "I am wet", "I am hungry", and "Put me to bed", for several weeks every 2-3 hours. It was not hard at all.

I can't speak for autism because I don't know enough about it. There are resources out there and people who you can reach out to for help, too. Thats another thing, too. Knowing when to ask for help.
 
NuclearSpy said:
Yes, all children are different. React in different ways, but how does that impair your ability to nurture them? I brought home a 4 pound premature baby and wife who had a c section. It was "I am wet", "I am hungry", and "Put me to bed", for several weeks every 2-3 hours. It was not hard at all.

I can't speak for autism because I don't know enough about it. There are resources out there and people who you can reach out to for help, too. Thats another thing, too. Knowing when to ask for help.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You can't speak for autism because you've never dealt with it. YOUR child might be easy (despite being premature) but some children even those that are not austic will simply fail to respond to what worked for your child. They will also fail to respond to what 'should' work for autism, because autism is a catch all term for any number of different cognitive disorders that are not well understood.

Parenthood doesn't stop in infancy, either. Have fun when your child is 2 or 3, and develops a penchant for throwing their own feces like a chimp, or biting others to express themselves. And yes, I've met several of both kinds.

Parenthood is not like a fire drill or CPR class you can take and just be "ready" for. This is obvious, man
 
NuclearSpy said:
Yes, all children are different. React in different ways, but how does that impair your ability to nurture them? I brought home a 4 pound premature baby and wife who had a c section. It was "I am wet", "I am hungry", and "Put me to bed", for several weeks every 2-3 hours. It was not hard at all.

I can't speak for autism because I don't know enough about it. There are resources out there and people who you can reach out to for help, too. Thats another thing, too. Knowing when to ask for help.
Click to expand...

I still can't get over your earlier comment in this thread:
NuclearSpy said:
If being a parent is in any way "hard" or "difficult", then you simply weren't prepared to be a parent.
Click to expand...
Do you honestly believe this? That if you find parenthood difficult in any way then you weren't/aren't prepared to be a parent?
 
Oh god why did I click this thread. Nothing like feeling bad about being a mom, 'cause moms don't get that enough from other moms.

NuclearSpy said:
If you are unprepared to raise kids, it would be because you never quite experienced life yet. Probably a lack of diversity and education as well. That being said, people can certainly be prepared for parenthood. Its not a myth.

Ultimately, what I think most parents lack is they don't view their sacrifices for their kids as a virtue but rather they view it as a burden.
Click to expand...

NuclearSpy said:
So, let me get this straight. How is anything you described there something you cannot prepare for, yet we can have fire drills, evacuation proceedures, emergency broadcast, etc and be prepared for that?

What you are talking about is a lack of ability to react to situations, not preparations. You're talking as if nurses never taught you how to do cpr or mouth to mouth on an infant before you left the hospital, or as if you don't know how to contact emergency medical services.
Click to expand...

HUcAtc7.gif


marrec said:
Hell, even with a now 7 y/o, I don't know if we're prepared mentally or financially to have a second child. As much as we want a second child.
Click to expand...
We want another child? I was not aware. :/
 
Being a GOOD parent can be difficult, but it's hard to quantify. I'd assume being some sort of cave miner in Africa is probably a lot worse lol. How about being in the military and having to carry out orders that cause the deaths of innocent civilians including that school full of children you just had to blow up?

Also, I always hate the stereotype of women being the ones that stay home and take care of kids. Some women wear the stereotype like armor when it's convenient then throw it the face of men whenever they get the chance (my mom does this).

I knew a dude that was a stay-at-home dad. His kids all turned out alright. Then he got a job after they moved out and says he wished they had more kids. Anecdotal evidence, I know.
 
NuclearSpy said:
Yes, all children are different. React in different ways, but how does that impair your ability to nurture them? I brought home a 4 pound premature baby and wife who had a c section. It was "I am wet", "I am hungry", and "Put me to bed", for several weeks every 2-3 hours. It was not hard at all.
Click to expand...

Whoa whoa whoa. You clearly have no idea what the lack of sleep combined with the maternal/paternal instinct can do to you mentally and physically when dealing with such things.

Think about how annoying it would be to hear a child screaming, inconsolable for an hour straight. Then, replace annoyance with physical anxiety that parental instincts manifest when it's your own child that is suffering from something that you can't determine. It's not the physically demanding kind of work that a coal miner or an Alaskan crab fisherman does but it's difficult in an entirely different way.
 
The lack of sleep deal is pretty rough.

Luckily my wife and I took turns catching up on sleep.

I don't know how a single parent would do it though.
 
NuclearSpy said:
So, let me get this straight. How is anything you described there something you cannot prepare for, yet we can have fire drills, evacuation proceedures, emergency broadcast, etc and be prepared for that?

What you are talking about is a lack of ability to react to situations, not preparations. You're talking as if nurses never taught you how to do cpr or mouth to mouth on an infant before you left the hospital, or as if you don't know how to contact emergency medical services.
Click to expand...

So you're having a semantic argument with me in which I compared an infant to a drug user.

I think maybe you're misunderstanding what I'm saying.

The idea of becoming a parent is incongruous with the reality of becoming a parent.

This statement is true in almost every case. There are rare cases in which the statement is not true. One's mental preparations being different from reality do not mean that you're unprepared to deal with that reality, only that the weight of it was unexpected.
 
Manmademan said:
Exactly. You can't speak for autism because you've never dealt with it. YOUR child might be easy (despite being premature) but some children even those that are not austic will simply fail to respond to what worked for your child. They will also fail to respond to what 'should' work for autism, because autism is a catch all term for any number of different cognitive disorders that are not well understood.

Parenthood doesn't stop in infancy, either. Have fun when your child is 2 or 3, and develops a penchant for throwing their own feces like a chimp, or biting others to express themselves. And yes, I've met several of both kinds.

Parenthood is not like a fire drill or CPR class you can take and just be "ready" for. This is obvious, man
Click to expand...

Eating from the bottle isn't really cognitive function, btw. Its instinctive. Changing diapers should have no effect in regards to austism. Sleeping could be challenging, but its not like it cannot be learned.

If a infant has autism, I am sure your pediatrician can advise you. If not, get a new one.

My girl is 2 btw. No problems here.

Again, seems to me we are confusing being prepared and ability to act. Its not the same thing, guys.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Frequent Fliers, what's the most annoying thing someone has done on a plane you've flown on?
2
52
97
Mr1999 replied
Is this the most beautiful anime character?
32
910
Mister Apoc replied
Being a Drifter
2
59
1K
Agave replied
The army chief of Uganda demands Turkey to give him $1 billion and the most beautiful woman in that country
News 
19
317
666 replied
What is the most rewatchable movie of the 21st century?
2 3 4
154
2K
CGNoire replied
Top Bottom