Mums and dads say age eight is the most difficult to parent, according to poll

Social media users are divided over the results of a poll ruling age eight is the most difficult to parent.

Ah, children. People tell you how difficult it is to be a parent, but you never truly realise until you become one yourself. Or at least so I'm told, I've chosen to have a dog for now, because I know Smudge will never chat back or shriek at me in public.

Don't get me wrong, I do want children some day. But there are probably certain years of their lives I'd rather skip - like the terrible twos and threes or apparently the age of eight. But why has the age of eight been ruled by some as the most difficult to parent?

If your child is yet to turn eight, may the odds be ever in your favour.

The poll revealed most of the 2,000 parents surveyed believe the most difficult year to deal with when your child is growing up is when they're eight years old - 'the hateful eights' they're supposedly nicknamed, as per Study Finds.

Commissioned by Mixbook and conducted by OnePoll, the survey also showed when kids turn six, it's often not as bad an age as parents predict it'll be, but that the most severe tantrums follow soon after at the age of seven.

Heaven forbid your child should throw a tantrum when you're out - but what else do parents find the most embarrassing when in public with their child?

Pexels/ Meryl Cusinato

The survey revealed 21 percent of parents think their child breaking a display in a shop is one of the most embarrassing moments they've had, 26 percent simply said their child throwing a tantrum and 27 percent are haunted by when their child accidentally stole from the store without them realising.

A larger proportion of 28 percent have been scarred by their kid stripping off in public, and 33 percent over their child screaming or shouting.

Twitter

However, not all parents are convinced age eight is the most difficult year to navigate.

Many social media users think the age of three is the worst, whereas others argued the teenage years are the ones to mentally prepare for.

One Instagram user wrote: "11 for girls, 14 for boys."

"17. They all want the privileges of being an adult but none of the responsibilities. I was SO happy when they all turned 18," a Twitter user said.

A third person commented: "Hmm. First child 0-6 months was by far the hardest."

And a final simply resolved: "All of them!"

I think I'll stick with my dog, thanks.

Topics: Parenting, Social media, Life, Real Life, Mental Health

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.