The gain is not the having of children; it is the discovery of love and how to be loving.
Polly Berrien BerendsThe trouble with most problem-solving books for parents is that they start with the idea that the child has a problem. Then they try to tell us how to fix the child, or else, after blaming the parent, they suggest how we can fix ourselves.
Polly Berrien BerendsParenthood always comes as a shock. Postpartum blues? Postpartum panic is more like it. We set out to have a baby; what we get is a total take-over of our lives.
Polly Berrien BerendsWe can see that the baby is as much an instrument of nourishment to us, as we are for him.
Polly Berrien BerendsThe child does not begin to fall until she becomes seriously interested in walking, until she actually begins walking. Falling is thus more an indication of learning than a sign of failure.
Polly Berrien BerendsWe cannot spare our children the influence of harmful values by turning off the television any more than we can keep them home forever or revamp the world before they get there. Merely keeping them in the dark is no protection and, in fact, can make them vulnerable and immature.
Polly Berrien Berends