Quotes About Childhood

And to discuss them with one's own parents would have been quite impossible: horizontal divisions were far stronger in those days than vertical ones. Perhaps the psychologists were right, and the "child mind"—that convenient abstraction—matured earlier nowadays. On the other hand, she herself had outgrown dolls by the age of nine, and here was Judy, at eleven, buying a new one.

As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit.

I went to an empty henhouse [when I was four and a half], hid in the straw at the back, and waited, and the family had no idea where I was... My mother sees this excited little girl rushing toward the house all covered in straw. Instead of getting mad at me, which would've killed the excitement, she saw my shining eyes and sat down to hear this wonderful story of how a hen lays an egg.

I am so glad TV had not been invented then—it meant I had to, and most certainly did, exercise and develop my powers of imagination.

It doesn't matter how many years go by, how grown-up we think we are, how much we presume we have changed or evolved, when we are back in our childhood homes, we become exactly who we have always been.

My conscious self would do anything to avoid people with cheating tendencies, but my subconscious keeps trying to recreate home and keeps bringing me back to people who recreate my childhood.

She was the child with the flashlight under the duvet late into every night. She would breeze through a book in a day and a half, then read it six more times.

It doesn't matter how many years go by, how grown-up we think we are, how much we presume we have changed or evolved, when we are back in our childhood homes, we become exactly who we have always been

When parents continue to dress their children after the age of three, they are robbing them of developing a sense of responsibility, self-sufficiency, and self-confidence. They are less likely to develop the belief that they are capable. Instead they feel a sense of belonging when others do things for them.

If you are tempted to "teach" your child by guilt, shame, or punishment, you will be creating discouraging beliefs that are difficult to reverse in adulthood.

The human brain is "under construction" throughout childhood and adolescence; in fact, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for good judgment, emotional regulation, impulse control, and other admirable "adult" qualities, is not fully mature until after the age of twenty!

The first three years, however, are especially important; what a child learns and decides about himself ("Am I loved or unloved, capable or not capable?") and the world around him ("Is it safe or threatening, encouraging or discouraging?") becomes part of the "wiring" of his brain. The outside world, which is experienced through a child's senses (hearing, seeing, smelling, and touching), enables the brain to create or change connections.

All children suffered their parents' worlds. If she had had a child of her own, would she have done any better? " Jane Rule. "Desert of the Heart

After he got back to his apartment that evening, Arthur remembered how completely he'd thought he'd solved the problem of his own childhood once he'd claimed Lillian and enveloped her in his dream--no one idle, no one beset by solitude, everyone laughing. The problem he had not solved, or even known existed, was how quickly it passed, every joke, every embrace, every babyhood and childhood, every moment of thinking that he had things figured out for good.

Two, she thought, was the most ephemeral age, the age of incipient consciousness, when personality was first chinking into place. Felicity was her last chance to enjoy this, and so she did, day after day

experience, that was true of everyone, even Joey, who hardly ever tried to get away with anything, but had killed a bluebird with the slingshot Frank had given him and gotten away with it—Mama did not allow them to shoot at songbirds. Frank himself got away with so many things that he expected to do whatever he pleased, and he did.

Do not expect too much from your child and she will grow in your love... But if you push her too much, you will push her away. A child is not yours to own but to raise. She may not be what you will have her to be, but she will be what she has to be. Remember what they say, that 'Wood may remain twenty years in the water, but it is still not a fish.

One day Ilka told me they were moving to America. Her papa, who was a professor, had found work there. "Is it far away?" I asked. "America?" We hadn't studied geography yet. "Over the ocean," she said. I'd never seen the ocean. I thought it was like the pond in the nearby park, only bigger. "I will visit," I said. "I will write," she said. The Nazis came. We did neither.

When I was six years old I sprinkled sugar on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boys' bathroom at school.

You're probably gonna find this hard to believe, but I was sort of weird when I was a kid. Salvatore Sally Sweet

Now it's my turn," Riley said. "What's your first name? Where'd you grow up? Who's your favorite Batman?

You always did have a problem with undies. Remember when you wet your pants in the second grade? - Joyce Barnhardt

But I could end up in prison." He waved off her concern. "I'd break you out." "You'd do that for me?" "You're my daughter, aren't you?" Kate smiled. Sure, he'd missed a lot of Christmases and birthdays during her childhood, but not many fathers could be counted on to mount a prison break.

For the better part of my childhood, my professional aspirations were simple—I wanted to be an intergalactic princess. I didn't care much about ruling hordes of space people. Mostly I wanted to wear the cape and the sexy boots and carry a cool weapon.