Quotes on Children

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
― Margaret Mead

“Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors.”
― Khaled Hosseini

“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.”
― Phyllis Diller

“ You'll love your children far more than you ever loved your parents, and -- in the recognition that your own children cannot fathom the depth of your love -- you come to understand the tragic, unrequited love of your own parents.” 

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... 
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.” 
― Kahlil Gibran

“Children are knives, my mother once said. They don’t mean to, but they cut. And yet we cling to them, don’t we, we clasp them until the blood flows.” 

Schooling and Learning.

The purpose of good schooling is to train children to be fully equipped to deal with the world as an adult – adults with characters and knowledge that will lead the society to grow and prosper. If that isn’t the purpose I don’t know why we spend years learning about subjects that don’t matter in day to day living. You learn history – but what about lessons from history? Geography – my favorite but are you instilling in them a love for mother earth? Science is great if it increases your curiosity to learn more and dispel myths. As for Mathematics and language, they are the tools that lay the foundation for your life after school. Lots to learn and add to it the array of electives you get to choose from, school life can be perplexing. Yet I dare to say at the expense of my kids getting mad at me, these are topics that should be made mandatory in schools.

Ø      Ethics: Teaching a teen what constitutes right or wrong, will help them in making ethically right decisions in future. Good work ethics will lead us to develop a generation of honest and socially conscious adult with a realization that interest of society and the world is higher than personal growth.?  Instilling in children the awareness of working towards a larger goal is more important than just teaching them how great Napoleon Bonaparte was.

Ø      Stress Management: Honestly nothing will be more useful than learning how to deal with stress when you go out in the world. Stress cannot be avoided, but yes we all can find means to deal with it and you are never too young to learn that.

Ø      Financial Management: In today’s time, teaching teens the importance of not only making money but managing it wisely is very important. Not to say that all kids will be handling their finances wisely as adults, but at least they would have a better understanding of how to make their money work for them.

Ø      Etiquette:This wouldn’t have made it to the list, if the disregard for any form of politeness wasn’t so obvious in the youth or adults. Showing consideration towards others is what it is all about, and what better age and place than schools to teach them.

Ø      Compassion: I sincerely believe nurturing a fine heart is as important as training your mind. Happiness is impossible without having compassion or empathy for others. No religious sermons, no spirituality, just plain old compassion and good heart.

Wise quotes on Children and Education

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” 
― Margaret Mead

“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself... 
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.” 
― Kahlil Gibran

“If you must hold yourself up to your children as an object lesson, hold yourself up as a warning and not as an example.”

"Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day." —Zen Proverb

"There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."—James Truslow Adams

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation." —Pearl S. Buck

Quotes on Fatherhood

1.  If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right. ~Bill Cosby
2. A man's worth is measured by how he parents his children. What he gives them, what he keeps away from them, the lessons he teaches and the lessons he allows them to learn on their own. ~Lisa Rogers
3.  By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. ~Charles Wadsworth
4. A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be. ~Frank A. Clark
5. "It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father."
   ~ Pope John XXIII
6. When one has not had a good father, one must create one."
   ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
7. "The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them."
   ~ Confucius
8. "Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."
   ~ Unknown
9. "My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got," so said the writer Mark Twain.
10. All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers come out at night. Darkness brings home fathers, with their real, unspeakable power. There is more to fathers than meets the eye.

Is motherhood overrated?

First things first - I am a mother - and love my kids unconditionally and have no grudges against motherhood, and in fact am more traditional in my lifestyle than I actually like. Yet, the more I read about motherhood, the joys of children, the more it makes me think, is motherhood really worth it and is it for everyone?




I see so many zealous writers writing and if I may say so -preaching about how to raise kids, that the pressures of being a mother really takes out all the fun and pleasures of motherhood. To those who have noted, I am using the word "motherhood", and it is quite deliberately too. Being a father is not a "biological" necessity, as is being a mother - at least according to society. Men don’t face the pressure of having missed out on something in life as women are Fatherhood is almost like the icing on the cake, if you are a good father, great but generally all the responsibility of raising well- adjusted and good citizens of the world is on the mother. In fact I remember reading an article stating that kids raised by lesbian parents (2 x moms) do better. Talk about pressures on a single mother!



I believe, motherhood like every other relation, every other commitment in life comes with its shares of joys and sorrows. People who think cooing and smiling babies is all there is to it are wrong. It’s a "better or worse" relationship where the onus is on the mother for relationship to survive. You will be 70 years, and can still expect your 45 year old daughter to call you complaining about a loss of job, or a broken heart. Just like marriage is not for everyone, so is motherhood. It’s just not fulfilling the need to nurture someone; it is a commitment for lifetime. The joys are boundless, but so are the pains. Every time your child hurts, you are going to hurt more, every time they lose, your heart will break.



The joys of motherhood are inexplicable, yet I firmly believe, it is just as natural to not to want to be responsible for another human being’s upbringing. Like most things in life, we tend to live our lives by the dictates of the society’s expectations, all searching for the mirage of a fulfilled life apparently led by our forefathers!

How to deal with Sibling Rivalry

How many times have you heard your child say “You love him/her more than me?” I am 41 and I still sometimes complain to my mom that she loves my brother more. I understand being a mother now that although a mothers love is going to be the same for all the kids, but compatibility can differ. You can love someone but not get along. My litmus test for things being right is asking each one the question, whom do you think mom loves best?  And when each replies "Me" - I know I am on the right track. All kids need to feel secure in their parents love and have a high self-esteem to have healthy relations with each other. Sibling rivalry cannot be completely avoided, but definitely can be managed.


There are some ways you can handle sibling rivalry if it is going out of hand.



1. Don’t take sides: Whenever the boys fight, I refuse to take sides. Its like either both take the heat or none. Listen both sides – if someone complains “He hit me first”, I will always ask “What did you do?” . If you have to interfere, make sure you are fair – always listen both sides before you take action. It’s very easy to just scold the perpetrator, but don’t forget the instigator is equally responsible.

2. Teach them conflict resolution: Right from the time they were 8 and 5, I have taught them to resolve their own problems. Don’t solve every problem for them. Asking them to think “how can they solve their problem” always help. If one of the siblings is not sharing the toy, ask the other one, how he can get him to share it. Maybe by exchanging toys, maybe by compromising (you play for an hour/ I for an hour) etc. Make sure they think out the options.

3. Remind of their love: This is what I learnt from my mom. Every time my younger son gets upset with the older one, I will remind him of the time he was helped by his sibling or the times when he took care of him. The same when the older one complains, I remind him of the time his younger brother didn’t go for a movie because the older was grounded. Reinforce the positive memories always.

4. Celebrate their uniqueness: I call one the heart and the other the brain of the family. They both have their unique place in the family. We often spend time (once a month) together as a family, where each one of us tries to guess other persons favorite things, or tell each other the qualities they like best in the other person. This exercise highlights the positive traits in each one.. You can also do this when you are driving your kids to school. Just beware, that you don’t go into the danger zone about negative traits , because its very easy for you or the kid to go “I like that you are helpful, but ……”

5. Unity: United they win and divided they fall. I have always taught the kids to stand up to each other – tattletale is not rewarded. Whenever the fight seems to go out of hand, they either resolve it or they both lose the privileges – no video games. So, it’s them against us – which works all the time.

6. Respect: They need to learn to respect each other. Insults are not tolerated, no matter what. Calling names is okay to a certain extent, but there is a limit to it. Make sure the kids know the boundaries and what is acceptable.



Sibling rivalry can be healthy, but always look out for signs when someone is being abused or bullied. Encourage open communication by LISTENING. As parents we communicate by talking (lecturing), but listening is more important. So, Listen and chalk out the rules of the family and make sure all your kids feel and know they are equally loved. You are the mediator and it’s up to you to communicate the affection and good times the children have spent together.