To say that being a parent is overwhelming would be an understatement. In today's world, parents have so much on their plates, especially moms who also want to be part of the work force. So it's not hard to imagine that some parents might resent their kids at times.
Redditors shared detailed reasons as to why they might not like their kids. You really can't help but feel bad for them.
"I just had a daughter a month ago. She was unplanned, and I told my wife (then girlfriend) that I did not want kids, but she did. She swore up and down she couldn't have kids, but lo and behold here we are."
"...and she fights her sleep like a [expletive]. not to mention the postpartum depression that my wife is feeling."
"I love my daughter more than anything, but the resentment and frustration I feel towards the situation makes me miserable.
Basically, I love my daughter entirely, but she makes my life a living hell. Hope I'm not an awful person for feeling this way."
"I am 42 and have 3 kids, 21, 17 and 5. I love them more than anything and would die to save them if I had to. But they are people with their own personalities and there are days when I really don't like them. The two older girls' teenage years were filled with these days."
"Each child has their own personality and while you can guide and shape their views and attitudes, you just can't change who they are. That can lead to times when you don't like them. Don't feel bad or guilty about it, it's natural but nobody talks about it."
"I never wanted kids (I'm female). My method of birth control (IUD) failed. Although my husband and I do all the normal parental stuff and now have a seemingly normal 3-year-old, if I had a time machine or stumbled upon a lamp with a genie in it, I would take a redo."
"I assumed they would say no, but they always said, 'I love my kids, but I probably would not have had them.'
"Take it for what it's worth."
"My wife and I adopted three girls. It changed our lives, negatively. As much as I hate to admit it, I love my biological kids and would do anything for them; I hate doing things for my adopted kids. I'm a s****y father."
"My boy is nearly 5-weeks-old. Sometimes I hate his guts and want to toss him outside so I can get to bed at a decent hour and not be woken up through out the night... I love my boy, I would never harm him or allow harm to come to him. But I hate babies and can't wait for him to grow up and be more enjoyable..."
"I think most people love their kids with all of their heart all of the time. But I also don't think you have to like them all the time. Sometimes my son annoys the [expletive] out of me. I'll never stop loving him."
"My kid has several issues my wife and I are trying to solve. He beats up on us, tries to hurt himself, screams and yells whenever he doesn't get his way. Rages to the points where he's unable to control himself. I can go on and on, but you probably get the gist."
"Since my kid is only four, I'm very scared for the future. But with everything we're dealing with, I love him more than anything else in the world and could never live without him."
It must be tough, but it's good that they aren't giving up on their son.
Even if that means you miss out on things you might want to do.
"A friend of mine started telling me about how she wished that she had never had her daughter and that the whole situation was preventing her from moving across the country where she wants to be."
"I went through a time when I absolutely could not stand to be around my son while we were going through some tough father/son times."
"So all I could do was walk away. Hands down the toughest time parenting. Ironically I suppose is that of my three kids, he has always been my favorite and I am happy to say, still is. Oddly when he was born I couldn't bond with him for the first 6 months at least. He was just a screaming crap factory to me. But when I did finally bond... holy smokes."
"My kids are hell. I know it's my fault - I was the same at that age. They're impatient, ill-tempered, and violent. Nothing like seeing a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old covered in bite-marks. People always say 'it's normal...' but folks who've actually managed my kids admit: they're... challenging."
"I love them. I love them more after spending 8 hours away from them, though."
(Jokes aside, I hope OP never actually ended the ban on corporal punishment.)
"Parent of two, here. Pretty much all children are born being loud, annoying, messy, difficult, obnoxious, obstinate, infuriating, violent, selfish and with a complete lack of empathy. It's a parent's job to correct these behaviors before the child reaches adulthood. You hate the behavior, not the child. Saying you hate a child because of their behavior is like saying you hate a room because it's messy."
"I have two kids, ages 2 and 4. I love them completely. What I don't love is the monotonous routine involved with caring for them."
I think that's a pretty fair point.
"I never wanted children. I saw no appeal, no urge to have them, no tugging on the ovaries when around babies. I never believed I was cut out to be a mother in any sense of the word, and experience proved it."
"...we married, and all was well until out of the blue a few years later he decided the most important thing to him on the planet was for me to bear his children."
"He said he'd be happy to do most of the rearing and he wouldn't allow me to fall into being the sole child-raising parent. He reassured me his parents would take some of the load. I thought it was all part of how love should be and with his persuading, my parents telling me I'd change my mind like everyone does, his parents being over the moon about his decision to try for kids, I went along with it."
"And within months it was clear my ex's promises were all about him and I'd made a dreadful mistake and I was raising a child I felt no bond with virtually alone. The experience changed us both and after just over a year later he left me because I changed. I probably don't have to tell any parent here about that, at least physically."
"The bond never happened, and I just ended up a mother to a someone. I can't even say 'this is my son' because I don't feel that. There was caring for a dependent human being who deserves a safe life and protection and security, and until he was four I raised him alone."
"It's like having the best flatmate I had while at uni, but also being responsible for every part of their being from food, medical, emotional, educational... I know no matter how I put it, to people who have children and who've connected with them there's no comparison, but that's you and this is me."
"They were collecting him for a weekend and I made an offhand comment about keeping him (worn down by two days looking after vomiting child) and his grandfather took me aside and asked in all seriousness if I was coping."
"By the time he was five they took him in permanently."
"So they're raising him and I think it's better for all of us. I ache because I don't love him, and never have - but he's still a small, vulnerable, developing human who deserves real parents with real love."
"I don't know if it's my bias from being free of the situation but I hope loving (relatively young, they're 51) grandparents are better than a constantly angry and increasingly resentful mother."
It seems like that was the best decision for everyone.
