Toughest Job in the World

Parenting is the toughest job in the world.

Why?

For one thing, you never truly master parenting. By the time you make sense of one stage of your kids’ lives, they’ve already moved on to the next. One minute you’re a Ph.D., the next minute you’re starting from scratch in “Parenting 101.”

Parenting is also tough because you can never resign or retire. From toddlerhood to adulthood, your role as a parent will change, but parenting itself never really ends. The early years are hands-on, helping your children to tie their shoes and dress and feed themselves. When they’re grown, you watch from a distance as they strike out into the world, build a career, and raise a family of their own. Along the way, you’ll come to the end of yourself regularly and often, but somehow you have to keep going. Your children are counting on you.

Parenting may be the toughest job in the world, but it’s also the most rewarding. Mothers and fathers are the foundation stones upon which a strong culture is built. Research proves again and again that children are most likely to grow into successful adults when they are raised by both a mother and a father. Educators, coaches, and youth mentors are important. But no one shapes a child’s character like a parent.