There are a lot of different ideas about what makes a parent a “good parent.” Experts offer a variety of opinions about which parenting style works best or which type of discipline really produces the best results. Sometimes it’s helpful to keep the big picture in mind and I think these quotes offer a bit of inspiration, motivation, and humor to help you along on your parenting journey.

 “When a child hits a child, we call it aggression.

When a child hits an adult we call it hostility. When an adult hits an adult, we call it assault. When an adult hits a child, we call it discipline.”   -Haim G. Ginott

“But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.” -Barbara Kingsolver

“If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent.” -Bette Davis

“Having children is like living in a frat house - nobody sleeps, everything's broken, and there's a lot of throwing up.” -Ray Romano

“We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” -HenryCloud

“Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.”-Harold Hulburt

"I may not be able to give my kids everything they want but I give them what they need. Love, time, and attention. You can't buy those things.” -Nishan Panwar

“Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”         -Robert Fulghum

"Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?” -Jane Nelson

“If we don’t shape our kids, they will be shaped by outside forces that don’t care what shape our kids are in.”-Dr. Louise Hart

“Sometimes, kids want you to hurt the way they hurt.” -Mitch Albom

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” -Jim Valvano

“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” -Bill Ayer

“The reality is that most of us communicate the same way that we grew up. That communication style becomes our normal way of dealing with issues, our blueprint for communication. It’s what we know and pass on to our own children. We either become our childhood or we make a conscious choice to change it.” -Kristen Crockett

“Parenthood...It's about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last.” -Peter Krause

“By loving them for more than their abilities we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments.” -Eileen Kennedy-Moore

“Play helps build a warm relationship between family members and to create a bank of positive feelings and experiences that can be drawn upon in times of conflict. Through play, you can help your children solve problems, test out ideas, and explore their imaginations.” -Carolyn Webster-Stratton

"A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to."-Robert Brault

“Anybody out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedrooms,as a favor to me, let them do it. It'll be OK.” -Randy Pausch

“Say “no” only when it really matters. Wear a bright red shirt with bright orange shorts? Sure. Put water in the toy tea set? Okay. Sleep with your head at the foot of the bed? Fine.” -Gretchen Rubin

“If I had to make a general rule for living and working with children, it might be this: be wary of saying or doing anything to a child that you would not do to another adult, whose good opinion and affection you valued.” -John Holt

“Encourage and support your kids because children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.”  -Lady Bird Johnson

"As your kids grow up they may forget what you said, but they won't forget how you made them feel." -Kevin Heath