ABOUT CHILDREN:
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Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it. ~ Harold Hulbert
A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a hundred-dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm. ~ Bill Vaughan
Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music. ~ William Stafford
Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. ~ John W. Whitehead, The Stealing of America, 1983
Children are one third of our population and all of our future. ~ Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981
Even when freshly washed and relieved of all obvious confections, children tend to be sticky. ~ Fran Lebowitz
If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all. ~ Pearl S. Buck
The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old. ~ Joan Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957
There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ~ Walt Streightiff
Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. ~ Author Unknown
In America there are two classes of travel - first class, and with children. ~ Robert Benchley
Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it. ~ Not Your Average Dictionary
Babies are always more trouble than you thought - and more wonderful. ~ Charles Osgood
Families with babies and families without babies are sorry for each other. ~ Ed Howe
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Watch the Children Grow
A little head, a tiny fist, a new life from my own
Instant, overwhelming love, fills me as I gaze
Just a short time later, they were standing there all grown
From the busy baby years till now seems only days
Watch the children grow
Love them as you lead them, and as you let them go
Guide them with your heart and soul
Soon they値l guide themselves, you know
Take the time to watch the children grow
Our family, in crayon, and pictures on the wall
So fast they learn to walk and talk, they learn to run and climb
Midnight fevers, medicine, and stitches for a fall
Broken bones and broken hearts, all mend over time
Watch the children grow
Love them as you help them, be sure you let them know
Hold them close and let them cry
You値l need holding bye and bye
Every day you値l see your children grow
Into their own ideas and lives, they soon enough will go
Strong and good and beautiful, unknowing actors of
A miracle far greater than I ever thought I壇 know
When they have children of their own, they値l understand this love
Watch the children grow
Love them while they need you, and when they let you go
Love them as they turn away
They値l turn back again one day
And for now just watch the children grow
While you can, just watch the children grow
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Twelve Suggestions for Raising Successful Children
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Remember that a child is a gift, entrusted to your care. Do not attempt to mold them in the image of yourself, your father, your mother, your brother, or your neighbor. Each child is an individual and should be permitted to be himself or herself.
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Don't crush a child's spirit when she fails. And never compare her with others who have done better.
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Remember that anger and hostility are natural emotions. Help your child find socially acceptable outlets for these feelings or they may be turned inward and create physical or emotional problems.
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Discipline your child with firmness and reason. Don't let your anger throw you off balance. If they know you are fair, you will not lose their respect or love. Make sure the punishment fits the "crime." Even the youngest child has a keen sense of justice.
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Present a united front. Never join with your child against your husband or your wife. This creates emotional conflicts and generates destructive feelings of guilt, confusion and insecurity.
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Do not give your child everything their little hearts desire. Permit them to know the thrill that comes from earning something. Do not deny them the greatest pleasure of all, the satisfaction that comes with achievement.
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Do not set yourself up as a model of perfection. This is a difficult role to play 24 hours a day. You will find it easier to communicate with your child if they know that Mom and Dad can make mistakes, too.
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Don't make threats in anger or glowing promises when you are in a generous mood. Threaten or promise only what you will deliver. To a child, a parent's word means everything. If they lose faith in their parents, they will have difficulty believing in anything.
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Do not smother your child with gifts and lavish surprises. The purest and the healthiest love expresses itself in day-in, day-out discipline. Consistency builds self-confidence, trust and a strong base for character development.
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Teach your child there is dignity in hard work, whether it is performed with a shovel or with delicate fingers that hold surgical instruments. Let them know that a useful life is a rewarding one and that a life of ease and pleasure-seeking is empty and meaningless.
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Do not try to protect your child against every blow and disappointment. Allow them to get a few lumps; adversity strengthens character and makes us compassionate. Trouble is the great equalizer, the common denominator of living. They are bound to have some trouble in life. Let them learn how to handle it.
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Teach your child to love the earth and to love fellow human beings. Show an optimism and faith that obstacles will be overcome. Children learn from example. Live your values, do not just talk about them, and your child will do the same.
--- Ann Landers
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WHEN I'M AN OLD LADY
When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each child,
After they've grown up we'll be reconciled.
I want to pay back all the joy they've provided.
Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
I'll write on the wall with reds, whites and blues,
And I'll bounce on the furniture...wearing my shoes.
I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.
I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
When they're on the phone and just out of reach,
I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.
I'll refuse to eat onions or crusts of the bread.
Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
When they cook dinner and call me to eat,
I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat,
I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,
And when they get angry...I'll run...if I'm able!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
I'll sit close to the TV, through the channels I'll click,
I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.
I'll take off my socks and throw one away,
And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!
When I'm an old lady and live with my kids.
And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,
I'll thank God for children, and then close my eyes.
My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,
And a sigh of their own,
"She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"
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"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted."
~ Garrison Keilor
"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush; anxious for greater developments and greater wishes and so on; so that children have very little time for their parents; parents have very little time for each other; and the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world."
~ Mother Teresa
Women gather together to wear silly hats, eat dainty food, and forget how unresponsive their husbands are. Men gather to talk sports, eat heavy food, and forget how demanding their wives are. Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun.
~ Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.
~ Phyllis Diller
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