21 Great Parenting Quotes

To Lift You Up and Make You Laugh

Some days are just harder than others. We get sucked into the schedules, we snap at our spouses because our kids snapped at us, and even the dog seems on edge. No sock has a match, the sink is full of dirty dishes, and you just don’t have two ounces of energy left. It is time for a quick pick-me-up – and sometimes a pity party crasher. I love great quotes that inspire, make me think, and give me something else to contemplate while I search for those stray socks.

Inspiring Quotes for Parents

Post a new one of these on your desktop, refrigerator, and as a Facebook status to remind you and your parenting friends that life is OK – and life as a parent might be hard – but it is the most amazing job we are fortunate enough to acquire. If your friends are also missing their socks, snapping at spouses, and are completely out of inspiration for parenting, send them one of these quick reminders (even just as a text) to help put things back into perspective.

1. Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. – Elizabeth Stone
2. 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. – Joyce Maynard
3. Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you. – Robert Fulghum
4. Children have more need of models than of critics. – Carolyn Coats, Things Your Dad Always Told You But You Didn’t Want to Hear
   
5. There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings. – Hodding Carter, Jr.
6. Do not ask that your kids live up to your expectations. Let your kids be who they are, and your expectations will be in breathless pursuit. – Robert Brault
7. What a child doesn’t receive he can seldom later give. – P.D. James, Time to Be in Earnest
8. Give me the life of the boy whose mother is nurse, seamstress, washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel, and saint, all in one, and whose father is guide, exemplar, and friend. No servants to come between. These are the boys who are born to the best fortune. – Andrew Carnegie
9. The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. – Frank A. Clark
10. If I had my child to raise all over again,
    I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
    I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
    I would do less correcting and more connecting.
    I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
    I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
    I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
    I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
    I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
    – Diane Loomans, from “If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again”

Funny Quotes for Parents

Sometimes heartfelt hugs and sweet messages of inspiration aren’t exactly what the doctor orders. Some days call for more laughter than introspective thinking, more snickering and snorting (yep – that’s how I laugh). Keep these humorous quotes around for just that moment when you think you can’t take it anymore. The truth is that seeing “the funny” in our lives keeps us grounded and reminds us that laughter can really be the best medicine. And sometimes parenting requires a big ol’ dose of something strong.

1. Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry. – Bill Cosby
2. Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. – Phyllis Diller
3. You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they are going. – P.J O’Rourke
4. Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said. – Unknown
5. Raising a teenager is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. – Unknown
6. Parenting is like being pecked to death by a chicken. – Unknown
7. Young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. – Rick Riordan
8. Schizoid behavior is a pretty common thing in children. It’s accepted, because all we adults have this unspoken agreement that children are lunatics. ― Stephen King
9. When kids hit 1 year old, it’s like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit. ―Johnny Depp
10. Having children is like living in a frat house – nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up. Ray Romano

I love the language of these quotes. I love how words can inspire us, make us laugh, and heal us. We can use words the same way with our children – we can lead them, teach them, humor them, and place in their hearts the love we have for them – if we are careful enough with our words. Maybe if we try to speak to our kids as if the world is watching, waiting for inspiration, faithful that we can pull off this thing called parenting, we might actually do a bit better every day. And on the bad days, when we can’t think of anything to other than, “Because I said so!”, sometimes words just aren’t enough and it’s just best to skip ahead to your favorite chocolate and a hot bath.

One last one – top on my personal list of parenting inspiration…

Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much. – Lisa Wingate

Related posts:

1. 25 Inspirational Parenting Quotes
2. 7 Tips for a Great Family Vacation on the Road
3. 5 Great Books for Kids

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