Which Stage Is Best?

The best stage of a child is when they’re a baby. The best stage is when they’re a toddler. It’s actually the pre-teen years. Definitely the teenage years. It’s when they’re an adult. Whatever part of parenting that you love, you have to realize that every stage is different and it brings new challenges while also having different parts that are really great as well. You’ll like some stages better than others.

You’re going to enjoy one stage of child development better more than someone else will. There are people out there who absolutely love the baby stage. They love the little human being - the little feet, the little hands, the little everything. They get to be completely responsible for this human being. Yes, there are cons to the baby stage as well, but for those people, they easily overlook those as the pros outweigh the cons.

There are others out there who absolutely love the toddler stage. You can finally communicate with your child. They are learning at an extremely rapid pace. They’re able to be independent and actually run around and be active with you. They’re still young enough though that you can snuggle with them and they’ll give big hugs and kisses. It’s a great balance between baby and older child.

Yet others love the stage between toddler and teen. This is a longer phase, generally the age that they’re in elementary school (5 to 12). Kids at this age become quite a bit more independent, and they’re old enough to be responsible for their actions. They know what’s right and wrong, and they can be depended on to follow through on what’s expected of them. They can carry real conversations with you.

Finally, there are those that love the teenage years. Children at this age are really starting to turn into adults - they know a lot about how the world works, and they make decisions with a better understanding. They can be given large amounts of responsibility, and they can really help around the house and with other activities. You can talk about most anything with them, and they can go on epic adventures with you.

If you look closely at any stage of child development, you’ll be able to find a lot of good things that are part of them. If you don’t look too hard, you’ll also be able to find lots of bad things as well. Let parents enjoy whatever part of parenting they want. Just because you really love one phase doesn’t mean it’s the best - each parent has different preferences and things they will enjoy more than others.

Similarly, every child is different. You may love one phase of raising your first child only to find that it’s the worst with your second child. Your first child may have never slept in the baby phase while your second child may sleep through the night very early on. This difference may cause you to think that the baby phase is great when you absolutely hated it the first time around - each child will make each phase unique.

Every phase of child development is different, and it’s different with each child. Try your best to enjoy each as much as you can.