The hardest thing about parenting as a Highly Sensitive Person
Navigating noise, emotions, and finding moments of peace
Before becoming a parent, I remember hearing others say that having children was both the best and hardest thing they had ever done. I believed them, although I never fully grasped the extent of what they meant. It simply wasn’t possible.
Perhaps this is because the challenge of parenting is twofold: first, it’s constantly changing, and second, it compounds. One tantrum might not be a big deal, but when you’re on the fourth tantrum and it’s only 7 a.m., you haven’t slept since 2018, and all the other regular life stressors pile up—work, finances, COVID, buying healthy food, showering, completing your master’s degree, caring for extended family, losing pets, dental appointments, illnesses, and so on—things really start to add up. And I mean really add up. But on those rare occasions when you have a peaceful morning with your children, you think, Ah-ha, I’ve mastered it! You convince yourself that as long as you stick to a rigid schedule, limit screentime to exactly 0.0375 seconds, and feed your children only greens, they’ll stay perfect little angels. Then you try the same thing the next day, and they (along with you) turn into absolute monsters. And honestly, who can blame them—life requires fluidity (and pizza, too).
Parenting is hard, and as a highly sensitive person, it can feel especially challenging.
The thing is, I feel like I’m a really good mom (most of the time), but I rarely feel like I’m a thriving mom—something social media has distorted beyond recognition. I see photos of moms with large families running successful businesses and think, How? How, when I can barely manage two children, and after 15 years of running my own business as a photographer, I burned out and called it quits?
Most days, I’m just surviving, though I do my best to never let my children see this.
So, what’s the hardest part about parenting as a highly sensitive person?