The parenting paradox

Being a parent of young kids can be very rewarding, but it can also make you crazy

Stressed mom
(Image credit: (Thinkstock))

WHEN I FIRST met Jessie Thompson, it was mid-March, a trying time for Minnesota parents. Everywhere else in the country, spring had sprung; here, it would be at least another month before the kids could be humanely disgorged into the yard. All week long, I attended Early Childhood Family Education classes in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul, listening to roughly 125 parents talk about their lives. And all week long, almost all would give the same report: Their nerves were shot and so were their kids' toys — the Play-Doh reduced to dry chips, the Legos scattered in a housewide diaspora.

Minnesota's ECFE is immensely popular and unique to the state. Any parent of a child who's not yet in kindergarten can attend a weekly class. And they do, in great numbers: In 2010, nearly 90,000 moms and dads signed up for one. The themes of the classes vary, but what they all have in common is an opportunity for parents to confide, learn, and let off steam.

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