{"id":9228,"date":"2026-06-10T06:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=9228"},"modified":"2026-06-10T06:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:33:56","slug":"mom-wonders-if-she-should-manufacture-hardship-for-her-kids-to-build-resilience-other-parents-sound-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=9228","title":{"rendered":"Mom wonders if she should \u2018manufacture hardship\u2019 for her kids to build resilience. Other parents sound off."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do kids today have it too easy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a challenge every parent<\/a> faces: striking that precarious balance between providing for their kids while still fostering independence<\/a>. In today\u2019s world, previous generations<\/a>\u2018 struggles are a thing of the past, making that balance even harder to strike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One parent recently found themselves at a loss with this predicament. They took to Reddit<\/a> to see if they should \u201cmanufacture hardship\u201d for their kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their post<\/a>, they explained how they and their husband grew up \u201cpoor,\u201d but managed to create a \u201cvery comfortable upper-middle-class life.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Because they freelance, they\u2019re able to be a completely \u201cengaged\u201d parent as well\u2014always there for \u201cschool pick-ups and getting driven around to extracurriculars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"family,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And while the OP\u2019s kids don\u2019t act spoiled with material things, they noticeably lack a \u201ccapacity for dealing with even slight inconveniences.\u201d From getting picked up five minutes later than their normal time, to minor switches to dinner plans, to non-VIP experiences at theme parks, this parent noted \u201cattitudes\u201d and \u201cunregulated frustrations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they ever face a college essay question about overcoming adversity, I don\u2019t think they would even be able to answer it,\u201d they wrote.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why kids today aren\u2019t as resilient<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In an article for Psychology Today,<\/em><\/a> Nancy Colier LCSW, Rev.<\/a> noted the rise of \u201chelicopter parenting\u201d and living life via a curated social media algorithm makes unregulated kids a common dilemma. Both, she argues, are symptoms of a modern culture that \u201cconditions us to believe that life should be how we want it to be, that we shouldn\u2019t have to struggle, and that our children shouldn\u2019t have to, either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"manufacturing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She goes on to say that \u201cwe don\u2019t do our kids any favors\u201d when we erase any trace of character building discomfort, and instead, \u201cwe create people who are dissatisfied and unhappy, and ultimately, are unable to deal with real life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,  Dr. Kate Renshaw, Director at Play and Filial Therapy<\/a>, argues that \u201cthe real issue isn\u2019t that children\u2019s lives are too easy, it\u2019s that they\u2019re too tightly managed.\u201d Furthermore, she tells Upworthy<\/em> that \u201cmanufacturing hardship\u201d can cause more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHardship without a consistent trusting relationship is confusing and stressful,\u201d she says. \u201cThe neuroscience is clear: a child\u2019s nervous system needs a co-regulatory anchor\u2014a safe adult\u2014to process difficulty in a way that builds resilience rather than artificially add to states of dysregulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why she suggests encouraging \u201cunstructured, child-led play\u201d where frustration tolerance can \u201cnaturally develop.\u201d This can look like a stuck Play-Doh lid, navigating friendship decisions about gameplay, or outdoor play where the natural elements cannot be controlled by adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"kids,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suffice it to say, if even experts can\u2019t agree on which approach is best, there isn\u2019t exactly a one-size-fits-all solution. Even in the Reddit comments, some agreed that the parent should introduce some friction, while others said the attitude might go away on its own. So at the very least, maybe parents in this situation can give themselves a little grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do kids today have it too easy? It\u2019s a challenge every parent faces: striking that precarious balance between providing for their kids while still fostering independence. In today\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/720457556_1482125523948434_3570642238933904021_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9230,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9228\/revisions\/9230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}