25 Most Important Things Ever Said About Children, Parents, and Life

8/14/2019 25 Most Important Things Ever Said About Children, Parents, and Life

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/25-most-important-things-ever-said-about-children-parents-and-life 1/6

www.rudecactus.com/archives/mia.collage.1year.



25 Most Important Things Ever Said About Children,Parents, and Life

By Jed Diamond, Ph.D.Contact: [email protected] www.MenAlive.com

Growing up I never thought much about having children. I thoughtabout baseball, basketball, football, and Fran with the big blue eyes.I now have 5 grown children and 11 grandchildren. But my lifechanged forever on November 21, 2009 when Jemal was born.Here’s how it began.

It was cold that late November day in 1969. My wife and I were tired of thelooks we received from friends as they looked at her bulging belly. Their eyeswould lift and the question was obvious. “Not yet, huh?” My wife’s eyes repliedwith a mixture of anxiety and anger, “No, not yet, as you can see. But it better besoon.”

I was a month shy of my 26th birthday. My wife was 22. It was our first childand we were both ready for the birth. The childbirth classes had ended. We hadpracticed our breathing, had her bags packed, some pictures to focus her attention, and the well wishes of friends. All we needed now was for the baby todecide the time was right to come into the world.

I admit, I had agreed to join the birthing classes and to be with my wifethrough the labor because it seemed to be the right thing to do. Most of our friends who were pregnant were doing it. My wife wanted me to be there. Iwanted to support her. My terror was that I would pass out in the delivery roomand have to be carried out before they could attend to the birth. I had never donewell with blood. It was one of the reasons I had dropped out of medical school.

The contractions began in the afternoon and we dutifully timed them. Whenwe were sure the birth was imminent, we called the hospital. I tried to remaincalm, but I was at the edge of panic. My wife seemed to be taking it in stride.

When we got settled into her room, the nurse checked her and told us that wehad a long way to go.

I helped pace her with her breathing and wiped her forehead. I fed her icechips and rubbed her neck and shoulders. There was a young girl who wassharing the room and though she was on the other side, it was clear that she wasalone and very frightened. I offered some words of encouragement and was gladI was with my wife to give her support.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.menalive.com/





As the hours progressed and we wondered if it would go on forever, I thoughtof what the Kaiser hospital doctor had told us. Whether the father would beallowed in the delivery room would be up to the doctor who was on duty at thetime of the birth. When I began the process, I found myself hoping that we’d get

a traditional doctor who would want me to wait outside. That way I could saveface with my wife. “Darn, I wanted to be with you all the way, but the doctor wouldn’t let me.”

But as time went on and I felt more connected to my wife and our soon to beborn baby, my desires began to shift. I wanted to be there for the whole show.Leaving began to feel like abandoning my wife and child. It also felt like I wouldbe missing the last act of a play that had begun nine months ago. “I might bescared, but I’m not going to let myself pass out. I want to be there.”

When the contractions were the most intense and her breathing was coming

in short gasps, the nurses said it was time to move into the delivery room. Asthey transferred my wife from the bed to the gurney to wheel her in, the nurseinformed me that the doctor asked that I now wait in the waiting room.

A wave of relief washed over me as I hugged my wife and squeezed her hand. “Maybe it’s for the best,” I thought. “They don’t need a frightened father tocontend with.”

I began my long walk down the hallway leading away from the delivery roomtowards the waiting room to join the other expectant fathers. I was surprised tofind that I didn’t feel frightened. I felt frustrated. As I got ready to push through

the exit doors leading to the waiting room, I found I couldn’t make myself gothrough.

Something drew me back, some force beyond reason. I turned around andwalked back up the hallway and into the delivery room. I took my place at thehead of the table and gave my wife a kiss on the forehead. There was noquestion of my leaving if asked. I was here to stay. My place was with my wifeand our soon to be born son.

I felt that it was his spirit that had called me back. “I want my father with me. Idon’t want him in the waiting room.” Minutes later amidst tears of pain anddelight my son, Jemal, was born. His cord was cut and the doctor handed him tome.

In the moment in which I looked into his beautiful face I made a vow inanswer to his call for me. I told him I would do everything I could to be a father who was totally involved in his life. I told him that I would be there for him nowand forever. I told him I would never wait in life’s waiting rooms even if thesociety told me that’s where a father belonged. I told him I would be a more



involved father than my father had been able to be. I told him I would doeverything I could to create a world where men remained healthy throughout their lives, in body, mind and spirit. In those few moments we crafted a bond that Iknow will last a life time.

These are my favorite quotes about children, parenting, and life.I hope you like them.

25. “To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time,any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons”.--Marilyn French

24. “You can learn many things from children. How much patienceyou have, for instance.” --Franklin P. Jones

23. “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.”--Chinese proverb

22. “A three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much funout of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a smallgreen worm.” --Bill Vaughn

21. “No matter how old a mother is, she watches her middle-aged

children for signs of improvement.” --Florida Scott-Maxwell

20. “When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments;tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become.”

--Louis Pasteur

19. “The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and thesecond half by our children.” --Clarence Darrow

18. “One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the

rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child's name and how old he or she is.” --Erma Bombeck

17. “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the rightpaths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their ownhands.” -- --Anne Frank



16. “Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born inanother time.” --Rabbinical saying

15. “Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I havetested it.” --Mark Twain

14. “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.” --Hodding Carter

13. “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes animpression.” -- Dr. Haim Ginott

12. “Before I got married I had six theories about bringing upchildren; now I have six children and no theories.” --John Wilmot

11. “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needsthe companionship of at least one adult who can share it,rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the worldwe live in.” --Rachel Carson

10. “At work, you think of the children you have left at home. Athome, you think of the work you've left unfinished. Such a struggle isunleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent.” --Golda Meir

9. “Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.”--George Bernard Shaw

8. “If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else youdo well matters very much.” --Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

7. “You know your children are growing up when they stop askingyou where they came from and refuse to tell you where they'regoing.” --P. J. O'Rourke

6. “If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.”--Marian Wright Edelman

5. “I love people. I love my family, my children . . . but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up.” --Pearl S. Buck

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/children-are-like-wet-cement-whatever-falls-on/365710.html


http://thinkexist.com/quotes/dr._haim_ginott/



http://thinkexist.com/quotes/dr._haim_ginott/



4. “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artistonce he grows up.” --Pablo Picasso

3. “I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to findout what they want and then advise them to do it.” --Harry S Truman

2. “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to lovetheir mother”.--Theodore Hesburgh

1. “Your children are not your children. / They are the sons anddaughters of Life's longing for itself.” --Kahlil Gibran

I look forward to hearing your favorites.

Drop a note here or contact me at [email protected] www.MenAlive.com





Documents

25 Most Important Things Ever Said About Children, Parents, and Life