“The beauty of problem-solving is that, unlike punishment, it offers endless possibilities. If you’re committed to punishment and your child continues to misbehave, all you can do is punish more severely. You might hit him harder or take away more privileges, but chances are you won’t get any closer to your goal of having a cooperative child. And you’ll create a lot of ill will in the process. With problem-solving, you can always go back and brainstorm some more. When you put your heads together, you’re bound to come up with something that will work for both of you.”
— Joanna Faber
“Jack, I’m just telling you, if it turns out. . .I want you to shoot me.”“Dee—””I’m not kidding, not exaggerating, just telling you that I do not have it in me to handle that.”“You have a daughter, too. You don’t have the luxury not to handle shit.”
— Blake Crouch
“Was Vianne really supposed to let Sophie starve to prove her loyalty to France?”
— Kristin Hannah
“So much time and energy, so much love and learning had gone into those long years of motherhood, and now, between a morning and a morning—or so it felt—they were over. It seemed that mothers of daughters had a more extended role but she knew that she was lucky to be allowed any part in her boys’ lives and tried hard to be grateful and undemanding. It wasn’t always easy, when she loved them so much, to practice detachment…. Odd that the last of the parenting skills should be the most painful: the final act of letting go.”
— Marcia Willett
“Learn to take parents the way they are … What they do for you is something you cannot expect from anyone … What they do not (or cannot) do for you is also with a reason, i.e. ‘in your best interests’!”
— Sandeep Sahajpal
“The day you accept your parents the way they are, God starts opening doors of success for you, one after the other!”
— Sandeep Sahajpal
“It is high time that we had a subject called Childrening, as we have one called Parenting!”
— Sandeep Sahajpal
“This is what parenting involved: hard decisions. She was his mother, she reminded herself. He didn’t have to like her.”
— Paula Daly
“Oh, man, ‘the nursery,’ ” Dominic said, “what a hell-hole. If I had kids I’d give them the nicest room in the house.”“You do have kids,” his kid said.“Oh, yeah, well, right, you know what I mean.”
— Kate Atkinson
“There’s nothing wrong with an adult being a child, except whining like one.”
— Ben Tolosa
“Such a tough life. This is not the easy way.” “No,” Penn agreed, “but I’m not sure easy is what I want for the kids anyway.” She looked up at him. “Why the hell not?” “I mean, if we could have everything, sure. If we can have it all, yeah. I wish them easy, successful, fun-filled lives, crowned with good friends, attentive lovers, heaps of money, intellectual stimulation, and good views out the window. I wish them eternal beauty, international travel, and smart things to watch on tv. But if I can’t have everything, if I only get a few, I’m not sure easy makes my wish list.” “Really?” “Easy is nice. But its not as good as getting to be who you are or stand up for what you believe in,” said Penn. “Easy is nice. But I wonder how often it leads to fulfilling work or partnership or being.” “Easy probably rules out having children,” Rosie admitted. “Having children, helping people, making art, inventing anything, leading the way, tackling the world’s problems, overcoming your own. I don’t know. Not much of what I value in our lives is easy. But there’s not much of it I’d trade for easy either, I don’t think.”
— Laurie Frankel
“Six o’clock means very little to a three-year-old. It works better to say “after dinner,” or “as soon as the baby takes her morning nap.”
— Joanna Faber
“If your child can’t resist throwing gravel in the park, in spite of your efforts to offer tempting alternatives, you can say, “I’m taking you home now. I don’t want anyone to get hit by a rock, even a little one.” If your child wants to help put pancake batter in the pan, but despite friendly reminders you can’t convince him not to jump around at the stove, you can say, “I can’t cook with you now. I’m too worried about burns.” If your child refuses to get in his carseat, “I can see the seat belt is uncomfortable. You feel freer without it. I can’t take you to your friend’s house without the belt buckled.” Or, “I don’t want to be late for work. I’m buckling you in. I know how much you hate it!”
— Joanna Faber
“We begin to understand that to coparent is to one day look up and notice that you are on a roller coaster with another human being. You are in the same car, strapped down side by side and you can never, ever get off. There will never be another moment in your lives when your hearts don’t rise and fall together, when your minds don’t race and panic together, when your stomachs don’t churn in tandem, when you stop seeing huge hills emerge in the distance and simultaneously grab the side of the car and hold on tight. No one except for the one strapped down beside you will ever understand the particular thrills and terrors of your ride.”
— Glennon Doyle Melton
“Don’t ever let another man call your child daddy.”
— Julian Quintero
“Jake thanked God he had a son to put to bed when he knew somewhere there was a family, right now, waiting for someone who would never come home.”
— Lisa Scottoline
“The AI told her not long ago that her “Why?” period might have been the shortest on record – because Mum and Dad answered every “Why?” in detail AND made sure she understood, so she wouldn’t ask that particular “Why?” again. After a month “Why?” wasn’t fun anymore, and she went on to other things.”
— Anne McCaffrey
“My advice is to make a point of apologizing to your child about something at least twice a month. Why twice a month? I don’t know. It sounds about right to me. (Almost all the specific advice in parenting books is similarly arbitrary. At least I admit it.)”
— Alfie Kohn
“The upbringing based on criticizing the wrong and rejecting it since childhood is considered to be one of the factors that support the ability to choose the right choice based on correct criteria and overall vision.As much as the sons and daughters practiced this criticism against the mistakes they see in the community as much they will feel more self strength, and will be more able to control their emotions as long as they are convinced with their opinions, which will free them from any feeling of lacking and will avoid them from standing in the position of defending their own beliefs, but vice versa it will give them the ability to express their opinions in the social events which will influence the others, and that is a result that both parents should care to achieve.”
— Maryam Abdullah Alnaymi
“When is the impulse to help an adult child a wise intervention and when is it self-serving and prying? I have an uneasy feeling I will have to carry the question around for a while like some grating pebble in my shoe.”
— Sue Monk Kidd
“Why shall we talk? To spread positive ambiance in the house, and to stimulate the hearty feelings, and to achieve a perceptible psychological connection between family members.”
— Maryam Abdullah Alnaymi
“Why shall we talk?To depend on the conversation style as a primary language of effectiveness on the other person, in a way that respects the feelings without hurting the human soul dignity, or humiliating it, or belittling it.”
— Maryam Abdullah Alnaymi
“Why shall we talk?To follow the logical method in handling the problems and the other family members’ points of views, with quitting the pressure style, verbal violence, and actual violence towards family members.”
— Maryam Abdullah Alnaymi
“Why shall we talk?To provide the right amount of clarity between family members in their home environment, and to spread the ambiance of honesty and trust between them on the way that uplifts the value of the family in their hearts, and to make it the safe haven for adults and children together.”
— Maryam Abdullah Alnaymi
“Our first concern is his happiness of course; but not just today.” Because it wasn’t that simple, was it? Raising children was the longest of long games.”
— Laurie Frankel
“Parenthood is like that…the harder the choice, the less likely any of the options are good ones”
— Laurie Frankel
“Congrats, buddy. It’s going to be hysterical seeing you try to parent. You’re a disaster.””Thanks, asshole,” he says, but he’s smiling because he sees the humor in my expression.”I hope it’s a girl and she grows up to be hot like her mom because that’ll make it even more hysterical,” I added and chuckle. “You’re going to have to buy a baseball bat to keep the boys away.””Oh God, don’t even joke about that,” he warns.”
— Victoria Denault
“Many parents have discovered, perhaps with some guilt, that they can read a story to a child while thinking of something else.”
— Daniel Kahneman
“Babbit was an average father. He was affectionate, bullying, opinionated, ignorant, and rather wistful. Like most parents he enjoyed the game of waiting till the victim was clearly wrong, then virtuously pouncing.”
— Sinclair Lewis
“Even though you can’t control outcomes for your child, you can parent unconditionally with all your heart.”
— Lisa Coyne