Parenting is a great responsibility. Which age/ stage of kids do you think is mo

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   ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years ago

   Parenting is a great responsibility. Which age/ stage of kids do you think is most challenging ?
   
   1. Infants 2. Early childhood 3. Teenage .

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   Faith Reaperposted 9 years ago

   Yes, parenting is a great responsibility.  For me, the most challenging age was when my two children were teenagers.  Their hormones are raging and their brains are trying to figure out just who they are ...are they still a child or are they growing into a young woman or man.  I know I would not want to relive my teenage years.  What is most important in my mind, as far as the parenting role, is to truly listen to them during these years and stay calm when they may say something that is outrageous!  It is important to understand how much peer pressure they are under and be sure to get to know who they are hanging out with ...all of their friends.  Above all else, make sure they understand you love them no matter what and that they are free to talk about anything in this life with you.  I think when they feel they cannot talk with their parents about any issue they are experiencing during these tumultuous years, then they will seek out the wrong counsel.  They should be able to come to their parents and discuss any topic with them without fear.

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Faith Reaper and that's a very sound advice you shared. Parents must listen to the teenage kids and perhaps this is the age when they need emotional support of their parents even more. We must be sensitive to their behaviour and help them.

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   Naveed Ahmed 624posted 9 years ago

   This may be a difficult question to answer (may be because I am not a parent of teenage children) - to pinpoint the most challenging stage for parenting of kids. Life as a whole is a journey of events, experiences and practices and everybody keeps learning throughout the entire lifespan. But for parenting, the initial period which shapes our thinking domain, ideologies, behavior and culture ranges from the infant age till the teenage at-least. Different types of learning occur during this time period and one cannot say that one is important than the other.
   In the infant age, the child needs intense physical and feeding care / safety. The parents must be more physically attached to the infant than at any other stage of the child's life. When infancy grows into early childhood, you need to nurture your children and teach them the appropriate behavior, guide their thinking pattern and provide them  a domain of appropriateness for each occasion in their life. The same kind of responsibility must be carried out with more intensive details and focus when the child attains teenage, for this is the period that most often shapes the future personality, which won't change afterwards so quickly as it would today through observation or argumentation.

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      Faith Reaperposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Wonderful observations here, Naveed.

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Naveed Ahmed, for an all inclusive answer. Like you said every stage of kids has its own challenges but parents in general find teenage more difficult compared to other stages of kids. Thank you for sharing your views!

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   Au faitposted 9 years ago

   Working with children in our local school district, ages 3 to 22, and having had contact with educators who worked with them daily for hours in the classroom, we all agreed that middle school children were the most difficult.  Of all the children, middle school children, ages 11 to 15 approximately, have the worst attitudes, demeanor, and behavior in general.  They are horrid, and I am speaking here of regular students, not special needs students.

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you C E Clark, for answering the question and sharing your opinion.
      I agree with you that parenting teenagers is perhaps the most challenging stage and needs lot of patience and understanding. Thanks!

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   Naresh4uposted 9 years ago

   Teenage, becase infants and childhood stages can be handeled by every parent.... but after childhood children will think about every thing.... may be goood or bad....
   In teenage  it is very big savaal or challenge for parrents...   childern will listen parents if they are in love and effection at childhood stage...

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Naresh4u, for your response to the question!
      You are right that teenage is perhaps the most challenging stage of parents, because this is the transition stage, that is from small kids they mature into grown up individuals.
      Thank you!

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   Katrina Pittsposted 9 years ago

   Your are right about parenting being a great responsibility. Being a full time mom of six kids ranging from 17 to almost 2 years old I would have to say the preteen, early teenage years. Although each stage has its own challenges, the early teenage ones are the most stressful.
   The baby, and toddler stage is much more work, that's for sure. They need you for everything at this stage. At the early childhood, to the preteen stage, they are more independent. The late preteen to early teen years, they know everything, think their parents know nothing, and are trying to figure themselves, and this world out. The later teen years are a little easier, they are starting to understand that we parents are not as stupid as they thought!

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Katrina, for your detailed answer! I must applaud you for the great responsible work you are doing at present. Parenting indeed needs lot of patience and hard work. My children are grown up now in their late 20's  but I remember my days.

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   chef-de-jourposted 9 years ago

   The most challenging stage for me is when children reach the teenage years and the transition to adulthood starts to kick in. This is the time when you're faced with the stark fact that someone you love dearly and have nursed and nurtured for a dozen or so years is suddenly confronting you, questioning you and yes, sometimes abusing you!!
   For no apparent rational reason (other than hormonal changes so called by the scientists).
   
   It's at this traumatic time that a parent's responsibilities really hit home. Before the teenager came along everything was relatively straightforward, all you had to do was clothe, feed and love - you were guaranteed feedback and generally a positive response.
   
   But nothing is quite that simple with the Teen! Tear up the How to be a Good Parent Manual!! Forget diplomatic strategies. Learn about carrot and stick methods, reverse psychology and always have some spare cash in your pocket just in case you have to bribe and cajole!! Just joking.
   
   Never stop loving, go with the flow somehow. Be strong and disciplined - your little girl or boy has formed an opinion, is becoming a sexual being, is starting to take their place in the big wide world.
   
   What a relief when the teen years are all over!!

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, Andrew!
      You summed it up so beautifully! The favourite line of the teenage kids may be, 'Please Ma, I am not a small kid---I am grown up now!'
      And now I want to repeat your last line, Ah! What a relief when the teen years are all over.

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   manatita44posted 9 years ago

   A mixture of early childhood and the teenage years. In the early childhood they can be rebellious, experimental, and would have figured how to take their chances; in the teen years there will be a fierce kind of independence, peer pressure and society's influence.
   
   You will also have to deal with the I'm more of a woman or man approach also. Salaam!

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank manatita, for sharing your opinion! I agree that there is lot of peer pressure and society's influence. This is the time they start discovering themselves from their point of view and have an individual opinion that may be different from us.

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   Norine Williamsposted 9 years ago

   Children are like clay!  You "mold" them during their "Developmental Years" (Ages 1-6) in order to prepare for the "most challenging," Teenage years!  Although parenting is undermined by most, it is one of the most challenging jobs one will ever undertake!
   
   I could expound on this question for hours but if one "molds" their child during "Developmental Years," the "Teenage Years" will be less or maybe not at all challenging!   
   
   I know the economy almost, always requires two incomes (if not more), but to miss "molding" your child during "Developmental Years" will cost one more in the long run!

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      ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Norine Williams, for your valuable opinion!
      I agree with you that spending quality time with the kids during their growing up years is very important. Few years of sincere parenting can make them good human beings. Thanks!

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    mdchaskarposted 9 years ago

    Early childhood is the  stage  wherein  parents  must  understand kids  problems, how to solve  them.

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       ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thank you Mukund Chaskar ji, for answering the question and sharing your opinion!

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    LupitaRonquilloposted 9 years ago

    My 3 year old is VERY challenging but since he is the only one I have, can't really say what stage is the hardest for me.

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       ChitrangadaSharanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks LupitaRonquillo!
       Your stage of parenting is the most enjoyable and that I speak through my experience. Parents may be busy and on their toes physically but  you would miss these times when the kids grow up. Parenting is blissful at any stage

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