In a word, No. Well, not as hard as some would have you to believe. Yes, raising children requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication. However, when you learn to be yourself and not fear mistakes, you will have a much easier time. Many of the books on the subject make you feel as if there are a bunch of learned approaches to parenting. That is why there are so many authors and so many views. I am sure that you have noticed that there is an entire industry devoted to educating new parents on the various techniques. Specialists and researchers have made a lot of money pushing one technique or another. Free enterprise is a great thing, really. It can be overwhelming. I have seen many a parent struggle with the inner demons telling them that their instinctive behavior is wrong because some so-called expert is telling them that they are scaring their children. Here is a little secret. We are all scarred. I know I am. In fact, I don