Find me a parent who says it's easy and I'll call them a liar.
Yes some children are obviously 'easier' than others and health issues and other factors undoubtedly make life more difficult for some families, but regardless of that, it's no easy ride.
From the tantruming toddlers to the tetchy teenagers and everything in between, each stage comes with its own problems. And if you're a worrier like me, it can feel even harder than it is.
It was partly a desire to make life easier for Manchester's parents - and myself - that led to the creation of Manchester Family, the M.E.N's parenting Facebook page.
I just happened to be questioning the lack of content specifically aimed at families when our now editor suggested a specific role to fill that gap.
That was 10 years ago and we could never have imagined how much it would grow during that time - to now 87k followers on Facebook. It's also on Instagram and X under @familymanc, there's a Manchester Family newsletter you can sign up to here and also a WhatsApp group HERE.
Starting a brand from scratch is no easy task, neither is persuading people to share details of their personal lives with a forum they'd never heard of.
But parents did speak and they've been speaking ever since - whether it's their experience of being a teen mum, suggesting a place for a family day out, or raising an issue at their child's school; mums, dads and grandparents have happily shared their stories with us.
My children were just six and four when Manchester Family began and finding activities and things to do was often tricky.
Working days while my husband did split shifts, I'd arrive home as he was leaving for work. It would get to the weekend and I'd have had no time to plan anything other than what's for tea each night and hope we had stuff in the fridge.
Join our Family WhatsApp group HERE
Like most families it was a juggling act and despite having gone from mummy, to mum, to bro, in many ways, it still is.
I hope that doing what I do now - sharing days out ideas, school holiday events, money saving ideas, recipes, places to eat and a whole lot more - in some way helps other families in a small way.
We've had some amazing experiences over the years - my kids and their cousins interviewing author Julia Donaldson, enjoying the fabulous Just So family festival (if you get the chance to go you must) and having the opportunity to drive a Lamborghini at Wigan's Three Sisters Race Circuit among the many highlights - and I've been down more slides and slipped on more ice rinks than I care to remember.
But we've been able to give readers something too, and regardless of the social media trolling that comes with the territory, most followers have always been kind and supportive of us and one another.
Our Manchester Family social events where families were given free access to Play Factore and Legoland Discovery Centre meant I was able to meet some readers face-to-face and we've done numerous competitions giving away some amazing prizes. You can check out our latest one giving away a VIP trip to Lytham St Annes Beach Huts here.
But it was at one of the toughest times, during the Covid pandemic, that I realised just how much of an impact we could have on people's lives.
With families trapped at home we upped our online presence with social media parties for children to join in and live Facebook sessions with psychotherapist Sarie Taylor who helped to ease parents' worries during lockdown.
We launched bedtime stories on Facebook where each night we published a video of a child reading from their favourite book so other youngsters could listen and spot their friends.
One of my favourite videos we took was of a little girl Maddison Eaves celebrating the reopening of soft play after the pandemic as we showed her whizzing down the slide at Party and Play Funhouse in Westhoughton.
More recently, with our dog Milo jumping on board Manchester Family, there's been even more content and with an invite to test out Manchester's new Pets at Home store and have a family swim at the indoor dog pool in Newton Heath, he's being recognised more than any of us.
Of course my kids, now 16 and 14, would rather the attention be on him rather than them. Anyone with kids that age knows how camera shy they become - unless they're with friends of course - and I won't share a picture without their approval. My husband has always shied away from the photos as much as he can.
With exams and adolescence upon us, it's a whole new ballgame for all of us - and it sometimes feels like none of us know the rules.
I wouldn't want to go back to the sleepless nights and nappy changes, but it really does feel like the last decade has gone in the blink of an eye.
I may well have been the parents editor for 10 years, and I might well have the inspiration and ideas for families, but I certainly don't have all the answers.
I'm in the thick of it like anyone else and I think that's why it works.
