Quotes About Childhood

But who are you? As the child of a parent with BPD and/or other emotional and cognitive difficulties, it may be surprisingly difficult to answer this question. You likely didn't have much mirroring, or validation, when you were young, which babies need in order to know where they stand in the world, that their feelings and observations and perceptions are healthy and normal. Without that early mirroring, it was difficult to see yourself, to know yourself…

Elan Golomb (1992) says: To grow up as a whole person, children in their formative stages need the experience of genuine acceptance; they have to know they are truly seen and yet are perfect in their parent's eyes; they need to stumble and sometimes fall, only to be greeted by a parent's commiserating smile. Through parental acceptance, children learn that their "is-ness," their essential selves, merit love.

For ten years I had lived within an elusive circle defined by an unshared childhood; by the daily effort, like an extra pressure of the will, required to speak this uncannily familiar language which fit me like a second skin, without ever being mine.

All the perplexities, confusion and distress in education these days arises, not from defects in the students,teachers or schools, not from want of equipment or technology, but from the downright ignorance of the nature of honor, virtue and kindness. Sound education... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection of childhood, on unselfish performance of teachers and on accountability and reliability.

I love them, but sometimes it would have been nice to be able to b e a kid who didn't have to act like an adult so much of the time. - Amber Brown

I love them, but sometimes it would have been nice to be able to b e a kid who didn't have to act like an adult so much of the time. - Polly

My mother said, neutrally, that other children in the neighborhood were able to amuse themselves; they didn't seem to need adults to be involved with their pastimes. With a disinclined air, she taught me how to play solitaire.

I had come alive here...this was my home, and though one day it would all trickle through my fingers like so much red dust, for as long as childhood lasted it was a heaven fitted exactly to me. A place I knew by heart. The one place in the world I'd been made for.

He was like a boy when he slept well. I could see the child he used to be under the man, and I loved them both, simply and completely and irreversibly. I tucked myself beneath his arm, and felt his breath moving in and out, and let myself sleep.

A red-jacketed porter hurried by me with a heavy steamer trunk, and I felt a rushing up of memory. At four, I had stared at the shrinking train that carried my mother away, black smoke rising, distance between us stretching by the moment.

playground studded with one of those

would all trickle through my fingers like so much red dust, for as long as childhood lasted it was a heaven fitted

Adults must aim to diminish their egocentric and authoritarian attitude toward the child and adopt a passive attitude in order to aid in his devleopment.

Instead of opportunities for serious accomplishment in our culture, we supply our children with expensive toys, hoping that these will occupy them and keep them from disturbing us.

The small child walks to develop his powers, he is building up his being. He goes slowly. He has neither rhythmic step nor goal. But things around him allure him and urge him forward.

How are we to help? We need to become aware of all the ways in which we hold the child back from becoming a fully functioning human being: the sink and counter that she cannot reach, the mirror that is too high for her to see herself, the chair that is too big for her to sit comfortably in...the pants that are too tight for her to pull up and down...

parents today are more likely to say their primary wish for their children is that they be happy. In pursuit of this goal they indulge their children, often unconsciously, to a degree that is startling to previous generations. All parents need to remember that true happiness comes through having character and discipline, and living a life of meaningful contribution—not by having and doing whatever you wish.

Montessori stated that nothing should be given to the brain that is not first given to the hand. By this she meant that abstract ideas and information of every possible kind should be given to the young child first in concrete form to be held, discovered, and explored.

In addition to doing practical-life activities at home, many children by the time they are eighteen months old are ready to spend three hours a morning doing these (and other activities) in a setting outside their own home.

Sadly we deprive fifteen-month-olds of such opportunities for work in the home or a homelike setting. Instead we give them a schedule of planned activities, expensive toys, television, and VCRs to keep their mind off their real needs.

A clue can be taken from the discarded toys. Why does the child reject them? Because, according to Montessori, they do not bring the child into contact with reality. What the child wants and needs are objects and activities that can serve as a preparation for the adult world where he realizes he is one day to take his place.

I used to watch 'The Waltons' and sob because my family was nothing like that. We had a cruel sense of humor in my family.

It's alot harder than you'd think to scar a kid for life.

You get prettier every day, don't you?" Red said, as he spun the stool. No one called Angela's little girl by her real name. No one could spit it out. Angela had found the name in the family Bible. Apparently, it wanted to stay there. "She's cute as a Dixie cup," Willie said from the service window. "Are you my little Dixie cup?" Red asked, giving her nose a tap. Clapping her hands, the child giggled and squealed. And just like that, Aubrette Orianna Belle was christened Dixie.