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You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mariel.

I am not a parent, at least not yet, but having watched my friends and family raise their

kids, parenting seems to me like being in one of those batting cages where there's a ball

ejected in the direction

of your face going however many miles per hour over and over nonstop except the balls are coming

from every direction and you couldn't possibly hit them all. Also some days it feels like you're in there

without a bat or a helmet. My friends are trying to keep their kids safe and healthy.

They're trying to raise good humans with a clear sense of right and wrong.

And at the same time, they're just trying to get through the day.

While one kid is pulling all the toilet paper off the roll,

the other two are pulling each other's hair, the doorbell's ringing,

and dinner is burning on the stove.

Parenting has always been hard and overwhelming, but I was surprised that recent data shows

in a lot of ways it's even tougher now.

Parents compared to two decades ago are spending more time at work than they were, and this is

moms and dads.

That may not be surprising.

...