The feelings of sadness, grief or loneliness, or questioning their “purpose” in life are what has become known as “empty nest syndrome” that some parents or care-givers experience.  This can occur when children or dependents grow up and/or leave home to lead independent lives of their own. These feelings are mostly attributed to women, but men are just as likely to be affected.

I recently went to a park playground with my friend’s 7-year-old daughter, who I’ll call Grace.  We were having a great time, me keeping an eye to make sure she wasn’t getting bored, her making sure I was watching her dancing, pirouetting and singing about being a cd and a record, as she spun around.  There were two fathers (I assumed they were the fathers) in the playground, with their little boys who both looked to be about 1 year -18 months old.  In the middle of the performance, I heard both little boys start to cry, it seems that they had bumped into each other on the apparatus and both were hurt and upset.

Every year, on the first day of the new year, we are encouraged to follow the tradition of making a new year’s resolution. Many of us will decide that we’d like to lose some weight, or we will join a gym – and perhaps stay for more than a few weeks. Others will try to stay sober for a month, with varying degrees of success.

Being a parent is the toughest job anybody can undertake. It can be utterly demanding, rewarding, terrifying and challenging in equal measures and in ways that other occupations just don’t match. It is full-time, and relentless, and exhilarating. Unfortunately, parenthood does not seem to enjoy the respect that it rightly deserves. Yes, becoming a parent is natural, but being a parent in this day and age has challenges that would test the most stoic, capable and resilient among us.