5 reasons parenting is the world's hardest job — and what makes it all worthwhile.

Parenting is the hardest job on the planet.

Air traffic control? Super stressful job. Brain surgeon? Not for the faint of heart. But parents take on the most relentless and challenging work on Earth every single day. Here's what makes raising humans the toughest job:

1. The responsibility is immense, and the stakes are incredibly high — yet there is no manual.

The first time you hold your baby — the weight of their entire life in your hands — it's nearly impossible not to be overwhelmed. You question whether you're adequate for the task, and the fact that you have no real idea what you're doing hits you. This is a person's life we're talking about. How did you get put in charge of a life?

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These moments in a black mother's life show exactly why we need to do better.

1. Let's say you and your 4-year-old son live in Los Angeles.

You enjoy your life there. Your friends; your family; the balmy, sunny weather; how you meet people of all shades, sexual orientations, and genders. There is no judgment. Difference is normal.

The only thing your graduate degree prepared you to be is a college professor. But competition for jobs is fierce in Los Angeles, so you apply for five professorships around the country. After three rounds of interviews, you are offered an assistant professorship in a faraway Midwestern town that is, you learn after a quick internet search, not nearly as diverse as L.A. But you say yes to the job.

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This comedian mom crying in the CVS parking lot is every mom with a struggling kid.

Dena Blizzard is a mom who usually likes to share videos about the most hilarious aspects of parenting. But this video was different.

On her Facebook page "One Funny Mother,” Blizzard posts videos and stories that highlight the funny side of raising children. You may remember her from last year's viral video where she filmed herself in Target defending teacher school supply lists.

But her recent Facebook Live video shares another side of motherhood — the one where we cry by ourselves in a CVS parking lot.

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This poem will help you empathize with parents who face life's toughest challenges.

This poem, "Mamas, We're in This Together" is written by Morgan Turpin, whose son was born with a life-threatening illness called Dravet Syndrome. The disease causes frequent seizures beginning in infancy and cannot be cured. Turpin's poem is an expression of the fear, frustration, and ultimately, hope that she feels as a mother of a child with a complex medical condition.

"Mamas, We're in This Together"

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