Parenting has become a bit like a competitive sport, with increasing pressure and expectations of perfectly behaved, well-balanced, high-achieving offspring.
So it's understandable that many parents are unwilling to admit they are actually plagued by feelings of self-doubt, sneaking fears that they are not good enough and are somehow messing up this vitally important job.
When 1233 ABC Newcastle's Sunday Morningpresenter, Helen Clare, recently made a candid confession on Facebook of her own doubts over her parenting skills, there was a flood of responses from others feeling the same way.
"These days I admit it freely," Helen wrote.
"Sometimes I feel despairing that I must be a truly terrible mother.
"When I lose my temper, when my kids are rude and disrespectful and I feel ashamed that I haven't managed to teach them better.
"Maybe I haven't given them enough time, perhaps I've not been a good role model."
From the responses she received, Helen is far from alone.
And it got her wondering, how do any of us reach that elusive place where we feel completely confident in how we've raised our children, a kind of "Parentopia"?
That's the title of a special series by Helen and producer Sue Steens that searches for the answers in other cultures to see if they have this parenting thing sorted out any better.
Through interviews with parents from Korean, Tongan, Indian, indigenous, Italian and Filipino backgrounds, Helen discovers the challenges and rewards of child-rearing in different cultures.
And finds that some of those insecurities and fears cross all ethnic boundaries.
Haok, from South Korea, is raising a nine-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son.
She remembers her own childhood with a strict and stern father who no one dared disobey.
Now she's adopted some of his rules, including no television during meal times.
For Haok, one of the trickiest things about being a parent is waking her children up in the morning.
"They don't listen to me!" she says, which makes her "really angry sometimes".
And Haok wonders if she's given too much of herself to her role as a mother.
"Sometimes I feel like I did sacrifice my life too much," she admits.
Shabnam, from Pakistan, has been in Australia five years and has three children aged four and under.
Her marriage was arranged, and with the children not attending pre-school they are with her "all the time".
The two oldest sleep in the same room with Shabnam and her husband, and the youngest shares the couple's bed.
"So I'm very tired," she says. "Sometimes I feel it's very hard, sometimes I'm angry."
Shabnam admits there are occasions she will smack her children, something her husband disagrees with.
This weekend be listening to Sunday Morning from 10am on 1233 ABC Newcastle and throughout regional NSW, when part 3 of Parentopia will explore the touchy topic of disciplining children. And you can hear parts one and two, featuring Haok and Shabnam, in the attached audio. Each episode is being replayed in Carol Duncan's Afternoons on Fridays.
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