17 Parenting Challenges That All Moms and Dads Can Relate To

By Alessia Santoro

Updated on 9/3/2016 at 5:22 PM

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Raising kids is no joke — and as with every life task we're faced with, it presents a number of difficult and trying challenges along the way. Though some challenges regarding raising tiny humans are unique to certain families, there are quite a few difficulties that virtually every parent faces at some point. We asked real moms, "What is the most difficult parenting challenge you have faced so far?" and a few of those universal responses had us nodding our heads in agreement.

Read through for 17 relatable parenting challenges.

  1. "Learning to say 'no.'" — Beth
  2. "Separation anxiety." — Sarah
  3. "Trying to teach my girls to be good friends when many girls around them are mean and sneaky. My girls tend to get caught up in drama and then have their feelings crushed because I taught them to be kind to everyone." — Heather
  4. "[Dealing with the] death of a grandparent." — Raine
  5. "Transitioning from one to two children." — Sarah
  6. "[Answering] questions that don't have one answer." — Beverly
  7. "Explaining to my son that it's OK to cry." — Nancy
  8. "Not sharing the same parenting principles with my husband/their father." — Cindy
  9. "Learning to let my kids learn life lessons the hard way. Nothing is natural about letting your kids fall and learn to get back up. But it is absolutely critical for them to do this." — Kristi
  10. "Fighting my son to sit on the potty." — Kedzie
  11. "Getting [my daughter] to understand the dangers online — posting things for the world to see and friending strangers online." — Cathy
  12. "Every family member's constant criticisms. It doesn't matter what I do or don't do, it's always wrong." — Keri
  13. "How to not take my [child]'s meltdowns personally." — Jill
  14. "Teenage hormones. It's like dealing with something from the exorcist!" — Leese
  15. "The talking back phase." — Christine
  16. "Sleep deprivation." — Anna

And perhaps the be-all, end-all of parenting challenges that every single parent can relate to:

  1. "Kids." — Don
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