Tweens, on the other hand... ugh, lots of fun in different ways, but lots more worry & stress too. And if I'm to believe my own mother, this does not recede when they leave home as adults, it actually gets worse.
Yes, there were other challenges as he got older. But the sleep deprivation of that first period was awful in a way that is difficult to put into words.
But whichever way it turns for someone, what you note is true: sleep deprivation is awful, and it's hard to describe just how much and how.
There was an eerily accurate joke I read long time ago, that infants can be effectively modeled with a Finite State Machine. That time was, for me, the easy mode. Now my 1.5yo is Turing-complete and subject to halting problem (in more than one meaning of the term), and the almost 4yo is pretty much uncomputable by this point :).
Yes, but I also meant that 12 years old is easier 10 years old is easier then 8 years old who is easier then 6 years old. You have to micromanage less and less. You can completely forgot or just once in a while check whole areas of care - like hygiene. 12 years old takes showers without prompt and plans for them. The homework is mostly autonomous too. Being on time for extracurricular activities mostly just happens without me actively doing anything.
> But the complexity of their emotional life increases too.
Yes, but that does not make it harder. It makes it closer to what adults do, closer to what I know. Once in a while there is complex problem and once in a while they change and you suddenly have to to adjust to new behavior.
Talking about emotional problems is easier with 12 years old then with 3 years old, because I do not have to simplify that much. The debate is getting closer to how I normally talk and think. With 3-7 years old, I always had to think in advance about how to simplify my thinking.