Parental Self-Awareness Quotes

Not everyone's a perfect parent, but we do learn, and we grow from that. I'm not trying to be harsh on my family because it does make them sad to think back about how they used to be and some of their choices.

The attempt to be an ideal parent, that is, to behave correctly toward the child, to raise her correctly, not to give to little ortoo much, is in essence an attempt to be the ideal child--well behaved and dutiful--of one's own parents. But as a result of these efforts the needs of the child go unnoticed. I cannot listen to my child with empathy if I am inwardly preoccupied with being a good mother; I cannot be open to what she is telling me.

When it comes right down to it, developing a critical sensibility about parenting isn't really about disapproval; it's about honing your own sensibilities, figuring out how you want to parent.

I don't think anybody feels like they're a good parent. Or if people think they're good parents, they ought to think again.

How well we understand the kids' world is very important, and I myself am not claiming to be the perfect dad, and from feedbacks from Jo, I understand that more time should be spent with our children.

My son doesn't know how flawed I am, how flawed we are. He still likes us so much, and that's so incredible to be around.

Anybody who thinks they're the perfect parent is a fool.

The swashbuckling independence of my childhood was not all good, and as a father, I'm puzzling out how to be part of my children's lives rather than shoehorning them into mine. But there's a risk that I'll overcompensate, of course.

I told my kids when they were little, 'Look, kids, your mother and I are screwing you up somehow. We don't understand how, or we wouldn't do it. But we're parents. So somehow we're damaging you, and I want you to know that early. So just ignore me when I go to that part of my parenting.'

When I meet other parents and they're more 'mumsy' than I am - you know, I don't want to be 'mumsy,' but I'm like, 'Were you always like that or... what happened?'

My kids make me laugh every single day - especially when they're their most precocious. My son said to me the other day, 'Why are you so dramatic?' And I just thought, 'Really? You know that word? And also, you've already noticed how dramatic I am?' That just really made me laugh.

I always assumed I'd be a terribly patient mum but it turns out I'm not!

As a parent, the only thing I am absolutely certain of is my own fallibility.

Being a developmental psychologist didn't make me any better at dealing with my own children, no. I muddled through, and, believe me, fretted and worried with the best of them.

I'm a mom... and I'm learning this being a parent, sometimes your child can be such a reflection of who you are. And I have to figure out when it is my ego that dictates how I parent and when it is what I think is best for my child.

I feel like kids are the perfect psychic investigators of their parents, and kids understand their parents' unconscious better than the parents ever do.