#parent

When you take the time to actually listen, with humility, to what people have to say, it's amazing what you can learn. Especially if the people who are doing the talking also happen to be children. ↗

— Greg Mortenson

#communication #education #parenting #communication

Worry not that your child listens to you; worry most that they watch you. ↗

— Ronald Heifetz

#parenthood #change

Before I got married I had six theories about raising children; now, I have six children and no theories. ↗

— John Wilmot

#children #fatherhood #marriage #parenting #theory

Ask your child for information in a gentle, nonjudgmental way, with specific, clear questions. Instead of “How was your day?” try “What did you do in math class today?” Instead of “Do you like your teacher?” ask “What do you like about your teacher?” Or “What do you not like so much?” Let her take her time to answer. Try to avoid asking, in the overly bright voice of parents everywhere, “Did you have fun in school today?!” She’ll sense how important it is that the answer be yes. ↗

— Susan Cain

#parenting #communication

All of us have moments in out lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them. ↗

— Erma Bombeck

#carpeting #children #courage #housekeeping #parenthood

I looked at Lucas with the pang that a parent feels when he knows his child will be hurt and that it's no one's fault and that to try to preempt the rites of passage is an act of contempt for the child's courage. ↗

— James Lee Burke

#heartbreak #parenthood #courage

In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage. ↗

— Bill Cosby

#courage

All those adorable towheaded kids in the promotional film are going to turn thirteen. Once a family member hits puberty, odds are that everybody is not going to have the same ideals. Unless everybody gets together and agrees that the new ideals involve turning the front yard into a skate ramp and officially changing Dad's name to Fuckhead. ↗

— Sarah Vowell

#florida #humor #parenting #change

After I lie there for a while, I realize that Dad isn't every going to do anything but be there to drive us home from the airport. And cook. And if I want something bigger to change, it's up to me. I'm scared shitless, yes. I'm doubtful, yes. But I'm angry. Angry that I am doing this because Dad can't. But then I sniff breakfast, and I know that Dad is doing what he can. ↗

— A.S. King

#change

For the parents of a Little Leaguer, a baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown into innings. ↗

— Earl Wilson

#baseball #baseball game #breakdown #game #innings