You know, put your family first, love unconditionally, be present, help them be who they’re meant to be, lead by example, take nothing for granted, live with gratitude. (Location 78)
Raising children—or, as I heard a parent once correct an interviewer, raising adults, since that’s the goal—is the hardest thing you will ever do. (Location 149)
Your children follow behind you. They see everything you do. If you go astray, so too will they. (Location 171)
One of the ways we do that is to help them become like us in all the good ways. But one of the other ways is to prevent them from becoming too much like us in all the bad ways. (Location 191)
Your kids will need them too. So show them. Show by example, not just with words. Show them, when you’ve been screwed over and it really hurts, that still your personal code of conduct matters more. Because it does. Because it will. (Location 206)
Be a leader. Be responsible. Be an example, a model they have to strive toward. Let them see you with a book they can’t yet comprehend. Let them be around adult conversations they can’t quite understand. Let them see you working and sweating and providing. (Location 271)
Let them see an adult—so they have something not just to look up to but to look forward to as well. (Location 273)
Is there a better description—a better bar to set—for a parent than this? If you want to teach your kids, it’s not going to be with words. It’s not going to be with lectures. It’s going to be through showing them that you live according to the rules you set and the values you are trying to tell them are important. (Location 282)
He learned the importance of compassion, hard work, persistence, altruism, self-reliance, cheerfulness; keeping an open mind and listening to anyone who could contribute; taking responsibility and blame, and putting other people at ease; yielding the floor to experts and heeding their advice; knowing when to push something or someone and when to back off; being indifferent to superficial honors and treating people as they deserved to be treated. (Location 292)
We’re better off embodying our philosophy rather than talking about it. (Location 310)
We can have great conversations. But what matters is what we do, who we are, how we act. (Location 312)
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The world needs less judgment, less bullying, fewer opinions, period. (Location 338)
Get your stuff straight. Be the parent you know you can be—be the person you know you can be. The rest will follow. And if it doesn’t? Then at least you’ll be strong enough to deal with whatever comes. (Location 349)
Our kids are whom we should want to impress. They’re the ones we should never want to let down. They’re not only the ones we’re fighting for but also the ones whose standards—whose natural admiration and love—we should always be fighting to live up to. (Location 365)
Show them what responsibility looks like. Show them how to be careful and how to always be prepared. Because someday you won’t be here, and they will have kids of their own who will need to learn these very particular lessons from them. (Location 394)
Who you are forms who they will be. So be who you want them to be. Do what you want them to do. It’s hard, but it’s the only way. (Location 418)
Kids are always watching, eyes, ears, and heart open. They absorb everything. (Location 444)
you can’t lecture your kids on anything you don’t live up to. (Location 453)
Obviously good boundaries are important. Obviously you don’t want your work life to overwhelm or interfere with your home life. But make sure that striving for this balance doesn’t accidentally deprive your kids of an important example that will serve them throughout their lives. (Location 519)
Show your kids that change is possible. Show them why your opinions matter, and how they can make theirs matter. Let them witness the real impact that comes from practicing what one preaches. Help them benefit from a focus on the practical instead of the theoretical, the actual instead of the hypothetical. Start now. (Location 532)
Just remember that they get the credit (and you get the blame). (Location 544)
We should take from this two things: We never stop teaching our kids. And though what we are doing right now may not be resonating with them, it can teach them something in the future. (Location 554)
it’s impossible to say them enough: I love you. I’m proud of you. It’s you I like. You are special. You are enough. You’re the most important thing in the world to me. (Location 587)
We ask them the question that Tom Hanks has described asking his own children: “ ‘What do you need me to do?’ You offer up that to them. ‘I will do anything I can possibly do in order to keep you safe.’ That’s it. Offer that up and then just love them.” (Location 618)
It’s a sobering reminder to all parents: the feeling of deficiency is far worse than any potential deprivation. So make sure your kids know that they are enough, that they are plenty, that you have loved them from the moment they were born. And make sure you remember that there is nothing they have to do to earn this love. There’s nothing they must accomplish to deserve tenderness and affection. They are good enough. The talents, the interests, the goals they have, are enough. (Location 632)
The idea that anything (or anyone) is improved by neglecting one part of their life for another is nonsense. (Location 646)
By being disciplined and protective of your personal life, you are being protective and dedicated to your professional life. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Don’t let anyone judge you for that. (Location 648)
Love your kids. Root for them. Support them. Fight for them and fight with them. Be beside them and behind them. Wherever they are. (Location 661)
Our kids don’t owe us anything. After all, they didn’t ask to be here. It is we who are obligated to them, by virtue of our choice to bring them into this world. (Location 672)
Your kids need to be seen. They need to be heard. They need to be loved. They need to be known. For who they are, for what they choose to be. Not for who or what you want them to become. (Location 726)
your attention, your understanding, and your love. (Location 736)