Why is Parenting Hard in 2022

Parenting is hard for many people in the twenty-first century. Society is constantly changing and evolving, and it’s challenging to keep up with what our children need. Parents are expected to not only provide the best care and influence possible but also be teachers, therapists, friends, and confidants.

In a world full of distractions and busy lifestyles, it’s easy for parents to feel overwhelmed. Setting boundaries and practicing discipline techniques are the only ways of ensuring our children’s survival and sanity in the modern world.

So, Why is Parenting So Much Harder in 2022?

1. Schooling System

The modern school education system is a very unusual environment.

Children get grouped with peers of the same age, spend a lot of time with them, sit and rest for long periods. This was never the case in foraging societies.

Today, the way school and academic/cognitive achievement dominate childhood has changed the way parents prioritize goals. Some parents may prioritize cognitive development over mental health and the relationship between child and parent. This is a perfectly understandable adaptation if you want to raise offspring to survive and thrive in the modern world, but it can be costly in some cases.

2. Connections Beyond Distance

Technology allows us to stay in touch with parents and other caregivers worldwide, regardless of physical distance.

There is not yet enough research to understand the ability of human infants, children, and toddlers to develop and maintain psychological bonds through technology and the short- and long-term effects on them.

3. Emotional Drain

At the end of each day, parents feel exhausted. It feels like there is nothing left in the tank. All of the items listed above take a toll on our emotions.

When parents try to start over the next day, they may feel like crying. Children drain your emotions and rarely fill them back up. As a parent, you may find it difficult to stabilize your emotions.

4. Limited Exposure

Throughout human history, individuals have been exposed to infants and children many times before themselves. With a large family and a different social structure, the experience of being with younger siblings, nieces and nephews was part of life. By watching other people breastfeed and imitating parenting styles, people developed an established understanding of parenting styles. Today someone may be holding a baby for the first time when they get theirs.

5. Work and Home are Different Realms

Today, most parents need to balance work and home as different worlds, roles, and physical spaces.

Parents do more for a living than caring for their children, but in farming and foraging families, most of the work they need to do is done in the same physical space as parenthood. This juggling activity creates a lot of pressure and stress.

The bottom line here is that parenthood is something we need to keep doing. It is an ongoing struggle that requires constant focus and intention. If you’re tired or depressed, take a step back, breathe, and see if you can identify what’s going on. You can also try to understand the attachment parenting principles to help you. Remember that you don’t have to work harder to get it right. Nobody else does it right as it is a challenging job, and you are doing the best you can.