For Rogers, the very act of asking questions, and trying to answer them honestly, was the key to growing and learning: “We can’t always know what’s behind a child’s question. But if we let a child know we respect the question, we’re letting that child know that we respect him or her. What a powerful way to say, “I care about you!
An unhurried morning routine at home can help your child get ready – and feel ready – for school without haste or anxiety.
I find out more and more every day how important it is for people to share their memories.
The great poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: “Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart, and learn to love the questions themselves.
It’s true that we take a great deal of our own upbringing on into our adult lives and our lives as parents; but it’s true, too, that we can change some of the things that we would like to change. It can be hard, but it can be done.
Mary Lou Kownacki: “There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.
It’s not possible to be a parent without having times of worry.
Letting our children go” is a lifelong process for parents, one that we wrestle with again and again, and each parent has to wrestle with it in his or her own way.
There’s mystery in raising children: As our children grow and develop their unique talents, we can’t control every aspect of their lives. For example, we can offer children music lessons and do all we can to encourage them to appreciate music, but if making music isn’t their way of expressing themselves, we have to trust they’ll find their own ways.
Watching a baby grow with our help tells us other things we like to feel about ourselves: that we are competent and loving.
The way you would draw a tree is different from the way anyone else would draw a tree – and that’s the way it’s supposed to be!
If the day ever came when we were able to accept ourselves and our children exactly as we and they are, then, I believe, we would have come very close to an ultimate understanding of what “good” parenting means.
That’s what eternity is made of: invisible, imperishable good stuff.
Childhood isn’t just something we “get through.” It’s a big journey, and it’s one we’ve all taken. Most likely, though, we’ve forgotten how much we had to learn along the way about ourselves and others.
Sometimes, though, I wonder if we confuse strength with other words – like aggression and even violence.
One of my wise teachers, Dr. William F. Orr, told me, “There is only one thing evil cannot stand and that is forgiveness.
To get somewhere new, we may have to leave somewhere else behind.
So maybe you’ll... take some time to think about those who have cared so deeply for you that you’re really nourished in this whole life because of knowing them.
You know, we have pieces of the people that have cared about us all through our lives, and they’re all part of us know. And so we represent, each one of us represents, so many investments from others. No one of us is alone.
Love is at the root of everything. All learning, all parenting, all relationships. Love or the lack of it.