Parents Prayer

Author Unknown

Dear Heavenly Father, Make me a better parent.
Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently
to what they have to say and to answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them, talking back to them,
and contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them
as I would have them be to me. Give me the courage
to confess my sins against my children and
to ask of them forgiveness when I know that I
have done them wrong.

May not I vainly hurt the feelings of my children.
Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes
or resort to shame and ridicule as punishment.
Let me not tempt my child to lie and steal.
So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate
by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.
May I cease to nag, and when I am out of sorts,
help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.
Blind me to the little errors of my children,
and help me to see the good things that they do.

Give me a ready word to honest praise.
Help me to grow up with my children,
to treat them as those of their own age,
but let me not expect of them the judgments and
conventions of adults.

Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity
to wait upon themselves, to think,
to choose and to make decisions. Forbid that
I should ever punish them for my selfish satisfaction.

May I grant them all their wishes that are
reasonable and have the courage always to withhold
a privilege which I know will do them harm.

Make me so fair and just, so considerate
and companionable to my children that
they will have a genuine esteem for me.
Fit me to be loved and imitated by my children.

If Teddy Bears Could Talk

If teddy bears could talk, what would they say,
What would they tell you, about the children with whom they play?

They might tell you things you don't want to hear,
Like Mommy hurt Tommy, or Daddy is who we fear.

The teddy bears of children are not just some toy,
They're sometimes the only, love felt,by some girl or boy.

So when you see a child, scared and alone,
Find him a teddy bear, needing a home.

Know that you've done good, by the deed in your heart,
You've given this child a place for love to start.

I Loved You Enough...

Erma Bombeck

Some day when my children are old enough to understand
the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them:

I loved you enough to ask where you were going,
with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to insist that you save your
money and buy a bike for yourself even though
we could afford to buy one for you.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover
that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to make you take a Milky Way
back to the drugstore (with a bite out of it)
and tell the clerk, "I stole this yesterday and
want to pay for it."

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours
while you cleaned your room, a job that would have
taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment and tears in my eyes. Children must
learn that their parents aren't perfect.

I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your actions even when the
penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO
when I knew you would hate me for it. Those were
the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won
them, because in the end you won, too.