The Votes Are In...

Last week's poll addressed the challenges of the typical day in the life of a parent. Whether you find yourself overwhelmed with the trials of getting them dressed in the morning, or you grapple with the daily juggle that is laundry, vacuuming, and keeping your home looking like a place someone might like to live in, parenting can be a tough job.

But what is the hardest part?

According to the votes, the resounding majority would rather do without the completely human experience that is the tantrum. Though these bursts of irrational, unreasonable behavior (by the kids, not the parents) vary in length and degree, they are all as frustrating as they are typical. The worst tend to occur in public and involve high volumes of screaming, wild displays of flailing limbs, and a ready audience to enhance the moment. The best reaction is usually no reaction, but that doesn't exactly work when you are standing in line with a cart full of groceries or trying to argue with the cell phone salesman about your current contract.

Coming in second with five votes is the common struggle of trying to keep up with the household chores, while also trying to feed, clean, stimulate, teach, and positively reinforce your charges. For all of this, there is really only one sane solution: the government needs to consider lengthening the hours in a day and we all need to start drinking more caffeine.

Third place goes to my own vote: just getting everyone out the door. Between hair clips, brushing teeth, cleaning up the dishes, and getting the supplies for the day ready, I am breathless by 9 AM. I don't know if my daily stress has to do with my need to be both organized and punctual, or my daughter's delight in making every task a game of tag, but I have yet to master a sure-fire system of departure.

Coming in at a tie for 4th are the trials of diapers and/or potty training and the business of napping. If you are in the process of potty training, it is safe to say you think about little else. Monitoring juice intake, frequency of bathroom visits, and the timing of a trip away from the home are all-consuming and certainly a daily stress. However, if you also have a resistant napper, chances are you spend most of the early afternoon looking for signs of the sleepies, trying to capitalize on that window of time after extreme energy, before they get overtired, and making for damn sure they don't fall asleep in the car.

Finally, a daily difficulty that earned no votes is the nightime routine of going to bed. Though I know some of us struggle with this area as well, we also usually have the help of a second party to share the frustration and (if you are like my house) the reading of 17 books in one sitting.

No one ever said parenting was easy, but it is the hardest, best job we'll ever have.

And on to the next vote.....