Matt de la Pena Quotes

I had a very lovely childhood, and, being an only child, I'm very close to my mom and my dad.

It's amazing the things that you cry at. I cry when I smell my son's hair in the morning. We have a moment of peace and I'll be like, 'Ahhhh! How can you love this much?'

I've been writing an ongoing letter to my children since they were born, full of recollections of their childhoods. I've filled two journals. It's a great thing to do as a mother - you forget a lot as you go along, but reading over what you've written brings all the memories back.

I've always traveled with a picture of my daughter from 1989, her kindergarten school picture, that has 'I love you, Daddy' written on it. She's always made fun of me because I never changed that picture out. It's like my resistance to her getting older. It was the first thing she'd ever written to me and it means the world to me.

I honestly don't remember when and why I started calling my mom 'Momsi'. These are family things; it starts for some reason. It's not that I just call her Momsi; I call her other things as well!

My father wasn't really involved and my mom is the light in my life.

I had a very simple life growing up in the farm country outside of Perugia, and biscotti and warm milk with a tiny bit of coffee were a big part of my morning ritual before walking to school.

To wake up to the sound of my son saying 'Mama, mama!' It's the best sound ever.

I was wondering if I could love another child as much as I love my son. And what I realized, within hours of my daughter being born, not only do I love her just as much if not more.

All I wanted was for my mom to say, 'I love you, and I'm here for you.' I never got that.

My family knows they are loved. As a mother, it is my job to let them know that they are, and it's a job I take quite seriously.

Mannu - in Punjabi, it means 'mine.' My parents would call me that.

I tell my kids all the time that I'm so lucky they chose me to be their mom.

I have to always go back to Tim Horton's, it's my favorite spot. I remember growing up as a kid - my mom, every Saturday morning she'd go the hairdresser and she'd give me two dollars to go buy donuts.

Since I was five years old, when my mom was still alive, she would just call me. And we would listen to the radio with Barbra Streisand and Karen Carpenter, and she would ask me to sing with her.

Mom, I love you. I love you, and our lives are gonna change. We don't have to struggle no more.

I'd like my children to remember all the cuddles and bedtimes, and that I worshipped them unconditionally.

The first human I ever said 'I love you' to was my oldest son.

The greatest gift a parent can give a child is unconditional love. As a child wanders and strays, finding his bearings, he needs a sense of absolute love from a parent. There's nothing wrong with tough love, as long as the love is unconditional.

Only a mother knows a mother's fondness.

Whenever I'm out late she makes a sandwich for my school lunch. I always protest and tell her not to, saying I'll make my own when I get home. But she likes it. She says it reminds her of when I was younger and needed her.

Mothers remember a child's first words, and quote them in tones usually reserved for Byron.

The thing you can do better than anyone else is love your children, because they're your children.

My parents loved me. My father used to carry me around on my shoulders. I know my father loved me. All families love their children, and we were good boys.

The mother memories that are closest to my heart are the small gentle ones that I have carried over from the days of my childhood. They are not profound, but they have stayed with me through life, and when I am very old, they will still be near . . . Memories of mother drying my tears, reading aloud, cutting cookies and singing as she did, listening to prayers I said as I knelt with my forehead pressed against her knee, tucking me in bed and turning down the light. They have carried me through the years and given my life such a firm foundation that it does not rock beneath flood or tempest.