Parenting Quotes

~[My son] is at that age now where he's so loving and says the sweetest things to me. Of course, I still get karate chops and all those other sort of things, too.~

The French aren't perfect, but they have some parenting secrets that really do work.

OF COURSE I'd like to be the ideal mother. But I'm too busy raising children.

Parenting meant that whether or not your children understood you, your obligation was to understand them.

If we are to prevent the fabric of our society from coming apart, we must teach our children to excel not only academically, but also in their appreciation of their obligation to others.

...the love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy.

We sucked in atheism with our canned milk.

Believe that God is strong enough to save your children, no matter how you fail.

So much is asked of parents, and so little is given.

I would rather my descendants have greater abilities and a greater knowledge of the love of Christ than I do, much like standing on one's shoulders in order to get a clearer view of the valley.

If you want to be treated like a mother, act like one.

We're [parents]) always bluffing, pretending we know best, when most of the time we're just praying we won't screw up too badly.

Nurturing a child’s sense of personal worth and therefore hope and dreams for a wonderful future is perhaps the most important responsibility of every grownup in a child’s life.

I used to believe my father about everything but then I had children myself & now I see how much stuff you make up just to keep yourself from going crazy.

A father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God?

It's impossible to protect your kids against disappointment in life.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.

The parent who could see his boy as he really is, would shake his head and say: 'Willie is no good; I'll sell him.

~I've learned the value of absorbing the moment. I remember the first time Ripley saw her shadow. My God, it was like shadows had just been invented. It was the most exquisite moment.~

~Wyatt [my adopted son] is definitely all mine. Little souls find their way to you whether they're from your womb or someone else's.~

A truly appreciative child will break, lose, spoil, or fondle to death any really successful gift within a matter of minutes.

From all wild beasts, a child is the most difficult to handle.

We ought to esteem it of the greatest importance that the fictions which children first hear should be adapted in the most perfect manner to the promotion of virtue.

I don't have any romantic views of parenting. Every step of the way it's really hard. It's a dangerous world, physically and psychologically.

(About parenting:) ... all that tedium, broken up by little spurts of high drama.

Never underestimate a parent's ability to mortify his child.

The solution to the problems of marriage and parenting is simple. Spend more time with the people you care about the most.

For a woman, a son offers the best chance to know the mysterious male existence.

The problem with children is that you have to put up with their parents.

One of the ways in which parenting is a learning experience and an opportunity for moral growth is that we learn as parents that we don't choose the kind of child that we have.

Parenting is the easiest job to get - you just have to screw up once and it's yours.

It is the common error of builders and parents to follow some plan they think beautiful (and perhaps is so) without considering that nothing is beautiful that is misplaced.

~Before, my career came first. All I had to think about was myself. Now my children prevail. It doesn't mean my career is less important; I just have to position things differently.~

Parents are teachers, guides, leaders, protectors and providers for their children.

parenting isn't a noun but a verb--an ongoing process instead of an accomplishment. And that no matter how many years you put into the job, the learning curve is, well, fairly flat.

The best gift is giving from your heart

First you have to teach a child to talk, then you have to teach it to be quiet.

Both of my parents got to see me host Carson, thank God. That's all anyone wants: to have their parents see they're going to be all right in life.

From where can your authority and license as a parent come from, when you who are old, do worse things?

You may strive to be like them but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

I've always wanted to be a mom. Because I want to give a kid all of the magical gifts my mom gave me, such as love and friendship.

Parents have the glorious opportunity of being the most powerful influence, above and beyond any other, on the new lives that bless their homes.

Praise your children openly, reprove them secretly.

We must imbue our children with principles of the higher-self, principles which see all people as true equals, and above all, which are sensitive to the delicate and fragile balance of life.

It's the curse of motherhood. You're required to love us even when we vex you.

Shouldn't we also ask ourselves what the consequences are of scrambling to provide the "most" of everything to our children in a world of fast dwindling resources?

You are the reason why he exists on this earth. You don't have the right to abandon him just because he's inconvenient or has trouble in school.

Sometimes, kids want you to hurt the way they hurt.

Therefore, your mistakes and your failures are blessings; opportunities for the best in parenting. And those who point out your mistakes are not your enemies, but the most valuable of friends.

There are going to be moments today you don't like me. You'll get over it.