Ayelet Waldman Quotes

Tired mothers find that spanking takes less time than reasoning and penetrates sooner to the seat of the memory.

Raising children uses every bit of your being - your heart, your time, your patience, your foresight, your intuition to protect them, and you have to use all of this while trying to figure out how to discipline them.

The whole concept of 'grounding' children is utterly stupid - they just go off and rebel and don't like you. When my kids eventually come along, I don't want them to not like me.

Losing your patience and your temper isn't the most attractive thing, but as kids get older, you wind up raising your voice.

Yelling and screaming won't really get what I want from my kids.

When your little child tells a lie, do not rush at him as though the world were about to go into bankruptcy. Be honest with him. A tyrant father will have liars for his children; do you know that? A lie is born of tyranny upon the one hand and weakness upon the other, and when you rush at a poor little boy with a club in your hand, of course he lies.

I have a four year old and I'm telling you we did Nickelodeon last night and he embarrassed me. It was like one of those moments when I couldn't believe my kid is acting like this. I just had to just like walk away from him because he was really pushing my buttons.

I try not to get too rattled about things that aren't that important - there's a different outburst for when the kids are reaching for a knife in the kitchen versus the reaction I have when they just won't stop talking. And my wife and I have mellowed out as we've gone along.

If something happens, you have to realize that you can't just yell at people all the time.

Sometimes I yell, sometimes I raise my voice. I am trying to do it less, because it's not always attractive. It's not always the right thing to do.

If you're not yelling at your kids, then you're not spending enough time with them!

I'm going to be a strict mum. I know that love is the most important thing - you've got to have lots of kisses and cuddles - but you also need to mix it with discipline or you'll be in a heap of trouble.

I worry that by losing my temper so much and being so harsh and yelling so much that, by example, I will have taught my daughters to be that way, and I'm now constantly telling them not to do that.

The important thing is that when you correct your children, they see what they've done wrong and why you're upset.

Talking with other parents really gave me some lessons that I try to hold on to now, as a parent of two boys.

Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done. I tried to find the balance between the strict, traditional Chinese way I was raised, which I think can be too harsh, and what I see as a tendency in the West to be too permissive and indulgent. If I could do it all again, I would, with some adjustments.

When you give directives to a child, especially a teenager, you must consider the nature of your child.

You can instill fear in your kids and get them to mind, but they won't function better in the world and your relationship will suffer greatly.

Because of their size, parents may be difficult to discipline properly.

Your children don't have to fear you to respect you.

It's perfectly possible to love your toddler but struggle to like them when times are hard.

Experts say you should never hit your children in anger. When is a good time? When you're feeling festive?

I have an almost seven year old... I think it's essential to be consistent with kids. And truthful, without scaring them. I could go on for hours on this one.

Even though your kids will consistently do the exact opposite of what you're telling them to do, you have to keep loving them just as much.

I don't think you should reprimand your child for everything you're feeling because for them it's as serious as when something happens in our day and we get upset about it.