248 Parenthood quotes

My children are the reason I laugh, smile and want to get up every morning.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.

We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.

Having a baby is a life-changer. It gives you a whole other perspective on why you wake up every day.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

Childhood is a short season.

A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it.

Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they're already asleep.

Hugs can do great amounts of good - especially for children.

Parents were invented to make children happy by giving them something to ignore.

Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk.

If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much.

Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.

The unconditional love for you child, it's truly amazing.

There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.

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

Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.

The Golden Rule of Parenting is; do unto your children as you wish your parents had done unto you!

Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them.

Kids are fat because of lack of parenting.

Parenting now is a two-way relationship where you learn from each other.

Parenting is one of the best management training programs there is.

We've had bad luck with our kids - they've all grown up.

The child supplies the power but the parents have to do the steering.

Parenting is no sport for perfectionists.

My parents saw their job of parenting as their most important role in life, and I aim to aspire to that.

There's really no point in having children if you're not going to be home enough to father them.

I'm trying to break any chain of negative parenting that I might have survived.

I'm worried about parents who aren't parenting.

The relation between parents and children is essentially based on teaching.

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs on earth.

The uncertainty of parenting can bring up feelings in us that range from frustration to terror.

Girls are the future mothers of our society, and it is important that we focus on their well-being.

Education, like neurosis, begins at home.

Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.

Parenting takes a lot of creativity, and I embrace it fully.

Parenthood remains the greatest single preserve of the amateur.

Any kid will run any errand for you, if you ask at bedtime.

Children are our second chance to have a great parent-child relationship.

Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.

A mother who is really a mother is never free.

Poor parenting may be reflected in poor sibling relationships.

We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching.

The truth about parenting is that the reality of our lives needs to be enough.

The well-being and welfare of children should always be our focus.

Parenting makes us better in so many regards.

Parenting isn't just parenting your own child.

If you're asking your kids to exercise, then you better do it, too. Practice what you preach.

Love is staying up all night with a sick child - or a healthy adult.

No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly.

When a parent shows up with an attitude of entitlement, understand that under it is a boatload of anxiety.

I had no idea that mothering my own child would be so healing to my own sadness from my childhood.

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.

To me luxury is to be at home with my daughter, and the occasional massage doesn't hurt.

My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.

I get whatever placidity I have from my father. But my mother taught me how to take it on the chin.

Because of their size, parents may be difficult to discipline properly.

All children will do things that you may not want them to. That's part of parenting.

I suppose it's amazing how quick life goes by when you have children.

Parents are key when it comes to keeping kids off drugs. Good parenting is the best anti-drug we have.

Most American children suffer too much mother and too little father.

I think Lincoln had a unique parenting style. He let his kids run free and wild.

Parenting is not for everybody. It changes your life. Especially when they're little.

Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.

A picture excites the love of parenting that comes through meditation on a child.

Should kids check phones at dinner? I don't know. To me, that's a parenting choice.

I hope to find the roles that are age appropriate but not yearning to be younger, or parenting ad nauseam.

I do think that there's an art form to parenting, and I have nothing but admiration for those who do it well.

Some have said that 'Frankenstein' is a story of a bad parenting giving rise to a troubled child.

Parenting is an impossible job at any age.

The parenting bit is much harder than the acting bit. You just never know what to do.

Gerard and I pretty much share all parenting responsibilities, although I'm definitely the disciplinarian.

What parent has it easy? I just never make the difficulty of it an obstacle. I just do it.

Parenting is the most important job on the planet next to keeping Gary Busey off the nation's highways.

Of course, the ideal scenario for parenting is obviously two parents of a mature age.

Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own.

Any parent who says parenting came easily to them is not being honest with themselves. Parenting is hard.

Parenting is tough.

Parenting definitely has some challenging moments.

I think parenting is very different now. We're totally governed by our children!

I am always trying to evolve, so I like to read parenting books and things like that.

I regret not having had more time with my kids when they were growing up.

Children should have enough freedom to be themselves - once they've learned the rules.

From politics to parenting, Christians have something to say.

No, I've never wanted kids. But I do read about parenting a lot.

So, you know, parenting is a very intimate and amazing experience and one of the best experiences of my life.

We go into parenting, and we discover that we don't have the answers. We are at a loss.

I take my children everywhere, but they always find their way back home.

Never raise your hand to your children - it leaves your midsection unprotected.

Women are individuals in parenting, and why not?

Parenting is not for sissies. You have to sacrifice and grow up.

Do remember to pick your battles when you start parenting your stepchildren.

Don't try to make children grow up to be like you, or they may do it.

I feel sure that unborn babies pick their parents.

Mom and Dad would stay in bed on Sunday morning, but the kids would have to go to church.

I think a dad has to make his daughter feel that he's genuinely interested in what she's going through.

Studies show that children best flourish when one mom and one dad are there to raise them.

That's my ideal day, time with my boys.

Parenthood and family come first for me, and when I'm not working I'm cool with the Teletubbies.

Attachment parenting is not a passive parenting style.

Relationships are complicated no matter what style of parenting you choose.

I came to parenting the way most of us do - knowing nothing and trying to learn everything.

I think we've moved to thinking of parenting and pregnancy as something in which you should lose yourself.

Here's a confession: I hate parenting books. I hate the ones that are earnest and repetitive.

I set out to write an anti-parenting parenting book.

I realize that of all people, I am no expert on parenting or marriage.

I thought that once we were out of the baby stage, parenting would be a breeze.

There are 80 million moms in the United States. Forty million stay at home with their children.

I come from a dysfunctional family, so my views of parents and parenting used to be highly mixed.

Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life.

America's parenting customs can shock foreigners.

I've decided the secret of parenting is benevolent neglect.

You have to support your children to have a healthy relationship.

I think there's different parenting styles.

It's hilarious to me that by writing an obscene fake children's book I am mistaken for a parenting expert.

Cohabitation itself doesn't cause ineffective parenting.

Believe me, my children have more stamina than a power station.

Having children with someone is the real bond.

Parenting a pre-teen is quite something.

With respect to parenting, biological age is not, for men, the concern it is for women.

The thing about parenting rules is there aren't any. That's what makes it so difficult.

There have been a lot of times when work and parenting conflicted for me. Every day.

When I was a kid, my mother's parenting style teetered between benign neglect and intense bouts of violence.

Everything that happens to me in a day enhances my parenting.

I'm doing a lot of parenting work and acting as a spokesperson. I have a clothing line and a line of toys.

If there is any truth to my parenting the dreamwork movement, it comes from the power of the press.

In parenting, as in judging, the days are long, but the years are short.

I'm endlessly fascinated by parenting, marriage, my wife and the ins and outs of marriage.

My father wasn't really involved and my mom is the light in my life.

I'd just as soon stay home and raise babies.

Success for me its to raise happy, healthy human beings.

Being a mother of two myself - and two small girls - I think that single parenting is hard.

Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, every movement, and action affects. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than a parent.

One of the greatest titles in the world is a parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad.

Parenting is the biggest sacrifice one can make. It’s putting your life on hold to fulfill the promise of your children’s tomorrow.

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.

Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can’t poke enough holes to drain it dry.

To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.

There’s nothing called a perfect parent, so just be a real one.

The children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.

A father’s goodness is higher than the mountain, a mother’s goodness deeper than the sea.

By loving them for more than their abilities we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments.

Your children need your presence more than your presents.

Every word, facial expression, gesture, or action on the part of a parent gives the child some message about self-worth.

If you have never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.

Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.

We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future.

Be the parent today that you want your kids to remember tomorrow.

Children learn more from what you are than what you teach them.

The thing about parenting rules is there aren’t any. That’s what makes it so difficult.

When you look at your life, the greatest happiness is family happiness.

Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents.

Praise your children openly, reprehend them secretly.

If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent, and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.

Parental love is the only love that is truly selfless, unconditional and forgiving.

A parent’s love is made of deep devotion, sacrifice, and pain; It is endless and unselfish, and enduring come what may.

The depth of the love of parents for their children cannot be measured. It is like no other relationship. It exceeds concern for life itself. The love of a parent for a child is continuous and transcends heartbreak and disappointment.

Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.

When you look into your mother’s eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth.

A parent’s love is whole no matter how many times divided.

Love is giving your kids your undivided attention and time.

It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.

A mother’s love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking.

A mother is a person who is seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

The most beautiful thing in the world is to see your children smiling and knowing that you’re the reason behind their smile.

Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired; it need not be deserved.

Love as powerful as your mother’s for you, leaves its own mark to have been loved so deeply .. will give us some protection forever.

There really are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.

Always kiss your children goodnight – even if they’re already asleep.

You have to love your children unselfishly. That is hard. But it is the only way.

A mother understands what a child does not say.

Even though your kids will consistently do the exact opposite of what you’re telling them to do, you have to keep loving them just as much.

Parents hold their children’s hands for just a little while, but their hearts forever.

First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.

Parents aren’t the people you come from. They’re the people you want to be when you grow up.

A good father is a source of inspiration and self-restraint. A good mother is the root of kindness and humbleness.

Parents are the greatest gifts for children to help them find their talents.

Our parent’s prayer is the most beautiful poetry and expectations.

In the happiest of our childhood memories, our parents were happy, too.

That’s what children are for—that their parents may not be bored.

My biggest parenting conundrum: why is it so hard to put someone who is already sleepy to sleep.

Parents had some kind of sin radar. They always called when you were in the middle of something you just knew they’d consider wrong. Or at least risky.

Having children is like living in a frat house- nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up.

I thought I’d never be the annoying person, but as soon as Winnie was born, I was showing iPhone snaps to a cab driver.

A 2-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don’t have a top for it.

My kid is turning out just like me. Well played, karma. Well played.

Nobody is hungrier than the kid who has been told it’s time for bed.

90% of parenting is about when you can lie down again.

I love when my kids tell me they’re bored. As if the lady standing in front of a full sink of dirty dishes is where you go to get ideas about how to have a good time.

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.

Not all who wander are lost. Some are just moms in target, hiding from their kids.

The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.

The easiest way to shop with kids is not to.

The perfect time for kids to ask questions, need to go to the bathroom, request more food is bedtime.

The only thing kids wear out faster than their shoes is their parents.

I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories.

Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you a referee.

People who say they sleep like babies usually don’t have them.

Toddlers should come with their own clean-up crew.

I wish children could grow according to their natural pace: sleep when sleepy, wake up when rested, eat when hungry, cry when upset, play and explore without being unnecessarily interrupted; in other words, be allowed to grow and blossom as each was meant to.

It’s not only children who grow. Parents do, too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself.

I’m always amazed when adults say that children “just did that to get attention”. Naturally, children who need attention will do all kinds of things to get it. Why not just give it to them?

Never fear spoiling children by making them too happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow.

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.

The point of parenting isn’t to have all the answers before we start out but instead to figure it out on the go as our children grow, because as they do, so will we.

If your children fear you, they cannot trust you. If they don’t trust you, they cannot learn from you.

A child seldom needs a good talking to as much as a good listening to.

Feeling heard and understood allows children to release their feelings, let go and move on.

Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first.

If your children fear you, they cannot trust you. If they don’t trust you, they cannot learn from you.

Children do well if they can, if they can’t we need to figure out why so we can help.

You must first teach a child he is loved. Only then is he ready to learn everything else.

Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them, all of it has always been big stuff.

Children, after all, are not just adults-in-the-making. They are people whose current needs and rights and experiences must be taken seriously.

There are times as a parent when you realize that your job is not to be the parent you always imagined you’d be, the parent you always wished you had. Your job is to be the parent your child needs, given the particulars of his or her own life and nature.

Gentle parenting doesn’t involve instantaneous results but naturally achieved, life-long lasting results.

You can’t teach children to behave better by making them feel worse. When children feel better, they behave better.

It’s time we stop buying the lie that we need to be hard on kids because “the world is hard”. Love them as hard as you can. That’s what they need.

My message is very simple. Love your kids. Just love them. Love, appreciate, show that you value them, remind them of their greatness, encourage them, respect, honor, trust, and treat them with dignity.

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.

Children learn to smile from their parents.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

The parenting journey holds the potential to be a spiritually regenerative experience for both the parent and the child, where every moment is a meeting of spirits. And both parent and child appreciate that each dances on a spiritual path that’s unique, holding hands and yet alone.

I got a lot of support from my parents. That’s the one thing I always appreciated. They didn’t tell me I was being stupid; they told me I was being funny.

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.

He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.

Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.

It is better to bind your children to you by a feeling of respect and by gentleness than by fear.

Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child’s life, and it’s like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother.

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.

Children are just different from one another, especially in temperament. Some are shy, others bold; some active, some quiet; some confident, others less so. Respect for individual differences is in my view the cornerstone of good parent-child relationships.

Romance fails us, and so do friendships, but the relationship of a parent and child, less noisy than all the others, remains indelible and indestructible, the strongest relationship on earth.

As a single mom, I’m juggling a lot and working long hours. Yes, it costs them a little, but what my children get in return is a mother who is energized and content.

The best way to advise your children is to find out what they want and then advice them to do it.

Children do learn what they live. Then they grow up to live what they’ve learned.

The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example.

There’s always the syndrome of the parent-child relationship: when someone has known you since you were very young, it doesn’t matter how much more independent, how much older or more mature you get – there is still that element, the dynamic of the relationship that is very hard to transform successfully.