You're echoing my frustrations with front-end development. I'm sure some would argue that it's worth the "wasted days" and "huge learning and re-learning curve" but I don't see it. I can't convince my bosses that the time is worth the effort. So, I have to learn on my own. I don't have a whole lot of motivation to do that, though. It's the up-front time to get everything installed and up and running and dealing with errors that inevitably appear even when following the installation instructions exactly as written... ugh. It's painful to think about. Yet, I continue to do it. This industry's de facto motto is: Change or die.
Of course, one has to figure out what is worth pursuing. That's the trick.