Mother’s Day is around the corner, a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society.
One of the most powerful words and experiences is motherhood which reflects differently on each mother and is one of the most sacred journeys one will travel in life.
Finding words for a feeling is hard and motherhood is all about feelings. The love mothers feel towards their own children not forgetting their own mums is extra ordinary.
The joys and difficulties, complex relationships, the sacred bond and dreams.
Motherhood marks a new chapter in every woman’s story giving them an enormous boost of self-confidence and strength in themselves.
They discover a love and passion that they have never experienced before.
Motherhood carries the gift of nurturing, care and superhuman love. Of the same goals and different ways of expressing and going about them.
It is a roller coaster of emotions, life and a never-ending story.
Despite it being an amazing adventure, motherhood has its lows, missed goals and disappointments.
With each new stage, comes a unique set of challenges and just when you think you’ve mastered those obstacles, you’re entering into a new stage.
For this reason, some would argue that the hardest stage is whichever one you’re in at the present moment; however, there are some periods within a child’s development that are truly much more difficult than others. Here are the most difficult stages of parenting ranked.
Caring for a new-born
Caring for a new-born can leave you feeling like a walking zombie. While your body attempts to mend itself as you recover from the physical demands’ childbirth, you’re tasked with figuring out how to care for a new-born who may not learn to sleep through the night anytime soon. It is also during this stage that many mothers have to grapple with the baby blues, postpartum depression, and colicky babies. The most redeeming characteristic of the new-born stage is that the baby naps frequently, which may offer some much-needed downtime.
Separation Anxiety
By the time a baby is six or seven months of age, their mom has returned to work for maternity leave. Unfortunately, this is also around the time when separation anxiety kicks in. Separation anxiety is a developmental milestone during which babies begin to develop a sense of object permanence. Separation anxiety is often marked by hysterical crying when their parents are out of sight. It can be particularly heart breaking for working parents to leave their kids at day care each morning knowing that their baby will be upset in their absence.
Terrible Twos
Although most parents expect for the terrible twos stage to begin when a child turns two, it can actually begin before or near a child’s first birthday. The terrible twos are a developmental stage defined by rapid changes in a child’s moods and behavioural challenges such as tantrums. Though they can be emotionally taxing on parents, the terrible twos are perfectly normal and are a result of the child’s reliance on their parents and their desire for independence.