A list of stressful events associated with onset of parenting is developed. The events and established weights are ranked to reflect the degree of disruption that would be caused should that event occur. Whether the rankings and weightings differ as a function of parent sex and maternal work status is also considered. The means for developing the list and the rankings and weightings are presented. Results indicate high internal consistency in weightings (.81 to .92) and significant differences in ranking among the four groups of parents (nonworking mothers, working mothers, fathers with nonworking wives, fathers with working wives) on two of the 21 events. Implications for parent education programs and research are discussed. (Author)