Parenting Quotes

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

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

"Even as kids reach adolescence, they need more than ever for us to watch over them. Adolescence is not about letting go. It's about hanging on during a very bumpy ride."

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

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

"Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth."

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

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

"I feel very blessed to have two wonderful, healthy children who keep me completely grounded, sane and throw up on my shoes just before I go to an awards show just so I know to keep it real."

"Every cliche about kids is true; they grow up so quickly, you blink and they're gone, and you have to spend the time with them now. But that's a joy."

"My father was a farmer and my mother was a farmer, but, my childhood was very good. I am very grateful for my childhood, because it was full of gladness and good humanity."

"Screaming at children over their grades, especially to the point of the child's tears, is child abuse, pure and simple. It's not funny and it's not good parenting. It is a crushing, scarring, disastrous experience for the child. It isn't the least bit funny."

"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."

"My mom and dad gave their kids the greatest gift of all - the gift of unconditional love. They cared deeply about who we would be, and much less about what we would do."

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

"Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built."

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

"The family teaches us about the importance of knowledge, education, hard work and effort. It teaches us about enjoying ourselves, having fun, keeping fit and healthy."

"We put more emphasis on who can drive a car than on who can be a parent. And I think there ought to be mandatory parenting classes starting in high school, and you should have to have a license to be able to be a parent to explain that you don't give alcohol to kids."

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

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

"Listen to the desires of your children. Encourage them and then give them the autonomy to make their own decision."

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

"Attachment parenting is not a passive parenting style."

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

"I don't think children's inner feelings have changed. They still want a mother and father in the very same house; they want places to play."

"Parenting is much more nerve-wracking than 'Jeopardy!'"

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

"I love to read books that focus on parenting topics because there are so many different ways to do things. I find these books offer a lot of great opinions on many different subjects."

"Family life was wonderful. The streets were bleak. The playgrounds were bleak. But home was always warm. My mother and father had a great relationship. I always felt 'safe' there."

"I think I'm going to have to live vicariously through my daughter's rebellion because I certainly never did go through adolescence."

"What feeling is so nice as a child's hand in yours? So small, so soft and warm, like a kitten huddling in the shelter of your clasp."

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