Empathetic Parenting Quotes

The most important thing about being a father is being able to forgive yourself. If you don't forgive yourself, you're not going to forgive your kids, either.

Your kids need your love and attention, and being able to devote myself to them is very fulfilling. As I get older, spending time with my daughters makes things much easier. You learn to put your ego aside.

In order for me to parent well I have to empathize and stay open with my son.

Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.

Being an older mom, I'm super mellow with my kids. Also, "curious" and "loving.

In the nurturing family...parents see themselves as empowering leaders not as authoritative bosses. They see their job primarily as one of teaching their children how to be truly human in all situations. They readily acknowledge to the child their poor judgment as well as their good judgment; their hurt, anger, or disappointment as well as their joy. The behavior of these parents matches what they say.

Parents ought, through their own behavior and the values by which they live, to provide direction for their children. But they need to rid themselves of the idea that there are surefire methods which, when well applied, will produce certain predictable results. Whatever we do with and for our children ought to flow from our understanding of and our feelings for the particular situation and the relation we wish to exist between us and our child.

It is our continuing love for our children that makes us want them to become all they can be, and their continuing love for us that helps them accept healthy discipline--from us and eventually from themselves.

If [my son] had any pain in feeling that he couldn't express to me, that would hurt.

My mother is very wise and intelligent. If I have children and can do half as good a job as she did in keeping me in line, I'll be very happy.

Fathers who compete hard with their kids are monstrous. The father, for a throw-away victory, is sacrificing the very heart of hischild's sense of being good enough. He may believe he is making his son tough, as he was made tough by a similarly contending father, but he is only making his child desperate and mean like himself. Fathers must let their sons (and daughters) have their victories.

I will here say to parents, that kind words and loving actions towards children, will subdue their uneducated nature a great deal better than the rod, or, in other words, than physical punishment.

And my daughter said, 'Why are you yelling at us?' and I said, 'I'm trying to discipline you!' And then she looked up at me with her tear-stained eyes and said, 'This is how you teach children, by making them cry.' And it was such a clenching reminder - she won not only the argument, but she won life with that statement. I just burst out laughing, and I think they were so surprised that I burst out laughing, that they did too.

In order for me to parent well I have to empathize and stay open with my son. I am also vulnerable when it comes to trying new things, when I don't feel like I completely know what I am doing. Lack of control.

The narcissistic, the domineering, the possessive woman can succeed in being a "loving" mother as long as the child is small. Only the really loving woman, the woman who is happier in giving than in taking, who is firmly rooted in her own existence, can be a loving mother when the child is in the process of separation.

A dutiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes...And a good mother is someone whose child wants to follow her.

We raise predators by treating children as prey.

What are the determinative factors in the early training of the child which assures that it will be placid and contented, unaggressive and non-initiatory, non-competitive and responsive, warm, docile, and trusting?

I think I'm even more open and more giving as a father now. I pay more attention now because I value it more and I'm less caught up with my career.

When our children see us expressing our emotions, they can learn that their own feelings are natural and permissible, can be expressed, and can be talked about. That's an important thing for our children to learn.

We cannot give our children what we don’t have.

The word NO, carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.

Our greatest hope is to bring up children inspired by their opportunities for being helpful and loving.

[I]f we can bring our children understanding, comfort, and hopefulness when they need this kind of support, then they are more likely to grow into adults who can find these resources within themselves later on. (from the introduction)