Quotes About Parenting

Because I know my daughter, she said. And I know very well that the only way to absolutely ensure that she pursues any given course of action is for me to forbid her to do so.

She . . . is worried that her daughter is a very young person moving in a world that rewards inexperience with pain.

Kids. You gotta love them. I adore children. A little salt, a squeeze of lemon—perfect.

Maggie nodded to me several times and then said, very seriously, "You're a little scary sometimes. You should know that. Regular dads don't say things like this.

When the bossy bit happens, our first response is a genuine extended smile at the child. This unexpected turn of events gives him or her time to think, to wonder what in the world is going on. Then we say something like "Nice try, Alicia. Nice try. What do you think happens in this family when people get really bossy? Does it help or not? But please don't answer that now. Just give it some thought." Then we walk off.

Start when they're cute, so they will stay that way!

we should be there with the needed hint or explanation—but only if our kids ask for it, and only as long as it's profitable. When we start to become irritated, we've helped enough.

When children do blow it, they need to know that they can come to their parents and that their parents are still going to love them and do their best to remain calm.

When children say they are bored, it usually means "I want you to spend more time with me." Playing with our kids is one of the great joys of parenting.

The risk of relying too much on trying to control children from the outside in, is that this often causes rebellion from the inside out.

The parent should keep their response empathetic yet vague: "I want you to have that, and you can—as soon as you have a plan for how this isn't going to be a problem." Wise parents keep their response fairly open ended in order to keep the child thinking about the situation and how to move forward.

all of our investigative questioning, done when our kids might be telling the truth, may breed a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's been said that if we wrongly accuse our kids twice for the same thing, they'll set out to prove us right. You can almost hear them say with a sigh, "You think I do it anyway, so I might as well do it.

Generally, honesty is conveyed to our kids through our actions, not our commands. We need to step back and analyze the model we are presenting to our kids.

these things may be little, but they have more impact on our kids than all the lectures about honesty we could ever deliver.

We might say, "My kids used to listen to me, but now they won't. Boy, have they ever changed." Wrong again. They haven't changed one iota. They're still listening to a voice outside their heads—it's just not ours anymore.

We can hurt a little as we watch them learn life's lessons now, or we can hurt a lot as we watch them grow up to be individuals unable to care for themselves.

Pouting is another nonverbal sign of displeasure. Kids use it to beg their parents to talk to them.

ensure that Aidan has a learning experience from this incident, his mom and dad must remember one thing: to keep their mouths shut. Save the words for happy times.

The state of our kids' room is a control battle we can win. But making an issue of it doesn't mean yelling at them. It means offering choices

We are giving our children emotion. And kids thrive on parental emotion; they lean back and enjoy the show. It's part of human nature.

Because parents are biologically programmed to protect their children, their automatic tendency is to try to rescue them or give them some wisdom that will solve the problem. A more effective approach involves listening with empathy and very few words.

If parents pull their children out of struggles too quickly, children get fearful of just about everything. With that said, be realistic. Sometimes rescue is the higher priority.

When our kids mess up, we are often overcome with anger and want to punish them. The better thing to do, though, is lock in our empathy for them and then let the consequences do the teaching.

kids will throw tantrums only as long as they work. Kids never seem to scream and pound the floor when they're alone in their room, but the show goes on when they have a captive audience.