parenthood

If something happened to Gillian, I'd rip the world down to save her, even if she spat in my face when I did. That's what parenthood means.

Mothering you is the first thing of consequence I have ever done.

Being a parent is like being a catcher. You gotta handle whatever is thrown your way.

Every parent is an artist, but not every artist is apparent.

Having kids means taking care of them, raising them, loving and supporting them, and none of those things have anything to do with who makes them one night in the bedroom or the experience of being pregnant

If you do not have a close friendship with your children, I will.--Child Molester warning all parents from the book Type 1 Sociopath

Love had still seemed like such a paltry thing in the face of all my doubts then, much the way it felt now. David had worries my love couldn__ touch, fears my love couldn__ easily dispel. My love seemed like a well-worn blanket instead of the titanium shield I needed.

If the world is so cruel you are frightened of it, I will hold you, and protect you, and teach it to love you as I already love you.

As parents we're meant to help each other out and build each other up.

The reason any person yaks excessively is because his communication is not being adequately acknowledged. He just keeps trying to be heard.

What is success, after all, but doing what you really want to do?

But the smell of the hospital, the sting of those overhead lights in the night, the snippets of conversations I had overheard, stayed with me and marked the beginning of how I came to know what a bold and dangerous thing parenthood is. Risk was not an event we had survived, but the place where we now lived.

Nothing's scarier than having a sick child, and one so newly born, and so vulnerable. It's the worst thing for a parent.

Children are mirrors; they will always show you exactly what is going on inside of you. Each phase of their growth is an opportunity to heal your own pain, to go deeper inside yourself and become more truly human

As parents one of the biggest jobs we have, is teaching our children how to resolve problems effectively. We live in an era where everyone is quick to act the fool over simple issues. As we used to say when I was on the streets, __verybody wants to cut a movie_.

When we raise our children to Shine, the future becomes brighter!

There is something about being loved and protected by a parent (or guardian) knowing that I can be loved for who I am, not what I can do, or might one day become. Unfortunately it__ not usually like this in every single situation. From time to time, my parents made mistakes during my childhood. Possibly I was the mistake, or unwanted. But I don__ know. I had every material thing that I could have ever wanted, but there was still something missing, as if I felt distanced from my parents, or misunderstood, in the ways that they treated me. At times, I had felt completely loved and accepted by my parents, but for one reason or another, they were unable to care for me, provide for me, in some ways that would have been very important. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to make up for the experiences in life that were absent when I was a child.

Having kids is not the same as being a parent.