It can simultaneously give us hope and fill us with fear. The naked truth of this phrase is that parenting is simply helping our children from one stage to the next, until finally they are ready to step out on their own as mature, responsible adults. We start out with the newborn baby stage, which, if we're lucky, has only a short-lived time of fussiness as our child adjusts to life on the outside. If we're not so lucky, we spend hours upon hours for weeks or even months trying to console a seemingly inconsolable, colicky baby. They seem to hit their stride and appear to have things pretty much under control by about first grade.
Life is good then.
You know, puberty and teenagers. Ah, but wait there is a significant stage between toilet training and the teen years that often goes unnoticed. Not really a child, but still not a teen or young adult either. These middle years, ages 8-12, are a time of significant change for a child. Another good source of information about this stage is the book The Smart Parent by Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo.