A Hard Age For Kids

2025-06-17

Right now I have a 3 year old and a 9 month old, and they are pretty different ages.

The 9 month old is getting his first set of teeth, he has about 8 right now and getting more, he can’t talk or stand up, but he can roll and crawl a little bit. Most of his calories are from milk but he is also learning to eat solid food and fruit.

The 3 year old is in a very different space, he talks, a lot and has lots of opinions. Sometimes he throws tantrums, like if he wants a Popsicle but it is dinner time and he has to eat dinner he may get upset. He may even throw himself on the ground or run away. But he can walk and run and jump.

And so far, in my pretty short parenting career, I really really think that the first few months are the hardest, followed by the first few years. And it is ironic that the hardest part of child raising is the beginning, you get thrown right into the fire when you have a kid. The hardest part is not having sleep, during the first few months you get broken sleep, two or three hour at a time, and it is terrible, like a form of torture. And the second hardest thing is feeding / making milk, that is super hard for my wife and I feel bad for her. I dont know what it is like aside from bottle feeding but it looks really terrible. And the third hardest thing is not being able to talk to your infant, right now our youngest is really really fussy but I am not sure why. It could be a ton of things, stomach pain, hungry, teething, overly tired, having a cold, etc. And I have no idea which one it is or how I could help him and that make it much harder than when he is older. He just cries because he is uncomfortable and I have no idea why and I find it very very challenging.

Perhaps it will get harder in the future. And I know it is going to change, things become more emotional and less physical. I assume the first time my kid says ‘I hate you’ will be a dagger to the heart. But until then I will do my best in comforting my kids.

-Gary