Quotes from Polly Berrien Berends

My list of things I never pictured myself saying when I pictured myself as a parent has grown over the years.

If your children see that you are seeking, they will seek—the finding part is up to God.

The child does not begin to fall until she becomes seriously interested in walking, until she actually begins learning. Falling is thus more an indication of learning than a sign of failure.

The gain is not the having of children; it is the discovery of love and how to be loving.

If your children see that you are seeking, they will seek-the finding part is up to God.

We can see that the baby is as much an instrument of nourishment to us, as we are for him.

Most of us would do more for our babies than we have ever been willing to do for anyone, even ourselves.

Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it. Polly B. Berends

The child does not begin to fall until she becomes seriously interested in walking, until she actually begins walking. Falling is thus more an indication of learning than a sign of failure.

The parent is the strongest statement that the child hears regarding what it means to be alive and real. More than what we say or do, the way we are expresses what we think it means to be alive. So the articulate parent is less a telling than a listening individual.

The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.

A sense of worthiness is a child's most important need.

Parenthood always comes as a shock. Postpartum blues? Postpartum panic is more like it. We set out to have a baby; what we get is a total take-over of our lives.

We can see that the baby is as much an instrument of nourishment for us as we are for him.