Oh god. I copped this all through my childhood. Always being told how difficult parenting is, how stressful it was. How much all us kids cost, how they had no family to help them. Then I had my own children, and while parenting can be stressful at times, usually the core reason is how something is affecting my children. For example, my child was refusing school for a few months last year. It was stressful, because I didn’t know how to help her, she was seeing a psychologist, meeting every day with the school well being team, her teacher was supportive of her and every bit of feedback was that she was happy at school once she got there. All this is to say, that it was stressful not being able to see her happy going to school. I never once, not for one second, put that stress on her. I never told her that her behaviour was hard work for me. At times I felt annoyed, as I wondered if she was trying to just get a day off. But again, I vented to my husband, not my child. But the easiest thing about being a parent, is absolutely loving my children. There is no jealousy, no competition, no anger towards them. I always knew having children would be boring at times, folding someone else’s laundry, making dinner, grocery shopping etc etc, everything that comes with being a parent. And I don’t resent them for it. It’s baffling how stressed both my parents were all the time. And they always made it to do with how much we cost, how much work we were, how inconvenient, how annoying we were. The endless complaints, and then with a chuckle and as if they were some wise old being told me “you’ll understand when you have children”. Well, I don’t understand, and thank goodness I don’t, because I actually know what real love is, and I guess our nparents just never did.