Barbara Walters Quotes

I expend far too much of my maternal energies on guilt and regret.

Especially with our first child, we tend to take too much responsibility--both credit and blame--for everything. The more we wantto be good parents, the more we tend to see ourselves as making or breaking our children.

Sometimes it's a bizarre, fairly cold, and horrifying thing to be a parent.

I'm trying to avoid, you know, guilt, even though before the child is born, you're already thinking you're doing things wrong... Why do I think that will probably carry over until the day you die?

Sometimes you think you aren't a good mama; you always feel a bit guilty when you're a mom. You want to be everywhere.

Sometimes I forget I have children, which is very strange. I feel guilty about it, as if my inattention will cause something to happen to them, even when I'm not responsible for them - that God will punish me.

I related so much to the responsibility of being a parent, the responsibility of "did you screw your kid up," the responsibility of letting your own parents down.

Like all parents, my husband and I just do the best we can, hold our breath and hope we've set aside enough money for our kid's therapy.

Motherhood has been an exercise in guilt.

I still feel as if I weren't a good enough mother. I didn't break any rules.

When I was working a lot, I felt guilty as a parent. I couldn't pick up my son every day from school, bake him cookies and that kind of thing.

I once blurted out that I found it impossible to bond with my son Winston because I was too tired. I mean how bloody awful does that sound? What a tosser!

I'm scared of screwing up my kids.

Our standards for motherhood are so high that many of us harbor intense, secret guilt for every harsh word we speak to our children, every negative thought that enters our minds.

A baby comes with such responsibility. Once you become a mother, you always have a guilt trip. You always try to do the best, but you feel you can always be better.

Around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children.

In public, when my kids have not been behaving great - because that's life, my kids are not perfect, okay - I've noticed other people watching me. And I felt judged, because I'm obviously in the public eye. So that's been hard.

You're always asking yourself, are you doing the best for your child? And other parents let you know if you're not, just not in a direct way. There's a sense of competition, which is ridiculous because you know deep down you're all suffering.

Working parents bring a certain amount of guilt to their relationship with their children.

I feel bad for my parents for having to raise me. I was crazy.

My greatest fear is that I'll fail my kids.

When something goes wrong, accuse yourself first. Even the wisdom of Plato or Solomon can wobble and go blind

The pressures of being a parent are equal to any pressure on earth. To be a conscious parent, and really look to that little being's mental and physical health, is a responsibility which most of us, including me, avoid most of the time because it's too hard.

You have your children and it's hard to even hold it in - emotionally.

Words There is no good father, that's the rule. Don't lay the blame on men but on the bond of paternity, which is rotten. To beget children, nothing better; to have them, what iniquity!