Tired, Angry and Frustrated of Being a Parent? Check out Your Guide to Typical Parenting Problems and How to Handle Them (2021)

Parenting is often considered one of the hardest responsibilities to tackle. Shaping a child to grow up into a decent person is a road filled with problems of all kinds. Every stage of a child's growth has its own set of challenges and issues, and parents need to be always engaged to face these issues and tackle them at the right time and in the right manner.

Parenting of course has always been quite a challenge. Some issues have remained the same for ages while some new ones have popped up. Behavioural issues are common as children face changes. Technological advancements has given them devices like phones and laptops which have both good and bad impact. Social media is another new challenge that can impact young vulnerable minds. So, lets see some common parenting problems which you as a parent may face and the solutions for these.

One of the major parenting problems is poor eating habits of the children. Most children like eating junk food including chips, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches, instead of nutritious homemade food. And, while they sometimes do listen to the parents and eat the proper food, they usually just fight over it till they get what they want. When children do this, most parents get angry and either do not give them anything to eat or force them to eat what the parents want. Here, what you should actually be doing is to compare the benefits and disadvantages of healthy and junk food for your children. Or, you could also make some of the meals at home to fulfil your children's request while keeping it nutritious. For instance, you could make a homemade pizza or a sandwich of your children's choice. Moreover, you should try to make the food look more presentable to attract your children.

As parents you may also face problems getting your children to study. For this trouble, you could make the study more interesting by adding in real-life examples or even some funny jokes related to the topic. If this does not work, you could also offer incentives to your children. For instance, you could give them a chocolate bar of their choice if they complete their homework on time.

It can also be troubling if you have a shy and socially awkward child who does not like to engage with other children for a particular reason. This can be very problematic as you may feel that your child is being left out. Or, you may feel that your child may have a lot of trouble when he grows up. In case this is a problem for you, you can observe your child - what he likes to do, what he does not like, and the reason for his shyness. Once, you know the reason, you can try and figure out a solution for this. However, do not talk to your child about it if he doesn't want to and do not force him to become friends with someone. What you could do is maybe, try and find someone similar to your child and arrange a meeting and see how it goes. Otherwise, you could simply wait as some children become more confident as they grow older.

You may also find your children always online. If so, you can try and get them indulged in some outdoor activities that your children like. You could also set limits to the number of hours they could spend on their devices.

Another problem that you as a parent may have to face these days is the whining of your children. Even though it is very annoying for you, it is a very effective technique. Several studies have proven that a parent gives in to what his child wants after nine attempts of whining. Fortunately, there is a solution to this very frustrating problem. Even though this is not very easy, the first thing that you have to do is to completely ignore the whining for the first few minutes or so. If you are lucky enough, the child will stop after just doing this. However, if he does not stop, you could try punishments or create signals to let him know that he needs to stop immediately. In case your child hasn't adopted this by now, you could make sure that he doesn't in the future as well.

One of the worst problems is if your child gets very aggressive and even hits back or something like that. If this is a problem for you, you could try and observe his actions closely. You will need to figure out the settings where he gets angry, the particular subjects or actions that cause him to become angry, and what he does when he is angry. Once this is done, formulate a plan and follow it through but don't shout whatsoever as this will just make it worse.

Some children are somewhat addicted to lies. In fact, they sometimes get so good at lying that you might not even notice that they are lying about something. These lies are called white lies, and they could be very problematic. Now, if you have a child who can tell and does tell white lies, you should never shout at him or punish him for the lies. If you do become angry and shout, he may tell even more lies just out of anger. Instead of being judgemental, you should either tell him that it won't help him in any way and would just destroy his personality. You could also just let the lie play out and cause the ending to be somewhat bad for the child so that he understands the bad effects of lying himself.

Another problem that you could face if you have more than one child is the fighting between them. These fights could be very little and too many or just a few but bigger ones. If so, whenever the children have any fights, get them away from each other and let them cool down before sitting them alone and solving the problem. You should also let them know some of the bad effects this could have on them and the importance of the relationship between them. However, do not judge and make rules that are to be followed by them. You may also give some incentives to the one who stays quiet if the other starts a fight or an altercation.

This is surely one of the major problems caused by children. Children often start to disobey their parents just to prove that they are also important and have the right to give an opinion and express their feelings. Parents, however, take this as rude and over-smart behaviour, reacting in a harsh way. Then, the children, instead of listening to their parents and obeying them, become annoyed and frustrated, resulting in them being rebellious. If you too face a similar situation and if you handle the situation calmly, it could have a better effect on the children. You should also teach them what's right and wrong and let them know that you have more experience than them. However, if the children become rude and annoying, you should immediately become strict and let them know that they have to obey you.

In addition to all that, the children may also employ various tantrums to get you to listen to them and manipulate you to do what they say. For instance, they may start crying. When this happens, you may get angry and start shouting to get your children to stop. In reality, this just adds to the situation. So, you should employ other ways like telling them that you won't listen to them unless they stop doing what they are doing.

One of the major parenting problems is the scarcity of time on the parent's side. Over time this has just increased. Nowadays, parents have to divide their time between their work duties, their parenting, their home tasks, and of course, for themselves. But this has just become more difficult over time and because of this parents are giving even less attention to their children. However, this problem could be solved by managing your tasks properly. This way, you will be able to fulfil your tasks while also managing to get time for yourself and your children. You should also not be spending all your time on the phone or other smart devices.

Another problem that some of you as parents may have to face these days is that the children get involved in wrong and unethical tasks. This is usually caused because you fail to let your children know about the various moral values. This problem can easily be solved by sitting with your children and letting them know about the various things that they should and should not be doing. This way you can ensure that your children grow up to become good adults who know the difference between good and bad, and contribute for the betterment of the society instead of destroying it.

Another problem caused by some parents is that they sometimes fight back. Here, it does not mean to fight back physically but verbally. While some parents even hit back physically, most just start shouting, yelling and getting mad or even repeating themselves over and over until the children get frustrated and leave or give in. You may think that this will get them to listen to you and this may be the case. But, in the long term, it will simply add to your problems by making your children even more annoying and they may also, start yelling and shouting. Instead of fighting back, telling them the problem with what they are arguing about, and letting them know the right thing to do, maybe a better option. For this purpose, you should be logical and let them know some of the consequences both the decisions could have.

You may also think of their problems to be unimportant or too important. However, both things are wrong, because, by underestimating their problems you may make them feel insignificant. By overestimating, you will try to solve all their problems and make them look huge. This way, the children may also develop the same kind of mindset which will not be useful as they grow up.

It is undoubtedly convenient for some of you to give your children a technological device to keep them busy but this is not good for them. This is so, because, by doing this you will be wasting their time that could have been used more effectively talking to you or playing outdoors. Now, you may think that it is dangerous for them to play outside, but this is very essential. For instance, if they stay inside all the time, they may over time become socially awkward or introverted. By playing outdoors, they would make more friends and also stay physically active and you can always go with them to ensure their safety. You could also utilise this time to pass on vital information to your children or to solve some of the problems they might be facing.

However, after listening to their problems, do not get worried and start solving them yourself. Instead, give them some time to find the solution themselves. If they are unable to solve their problems then, you can give them some insights on the topic and see if that helps. If the problem still remains, you can intervene and solve their problem.