![]() ![]() But a son becomes some irreparably separate thing.” -Brit Bennett, The Mothers ![]() “A daughter grows older and draws nearer to her mother, until she gradually overlaps her like a sewing pattern. It sends the soul flying.” -Fredrik Backman, Beartown It’s like trying to describe sand between your toes or snowflakes on your tongue to someone who’s lived their whole life in a dark room. It’s incomprehensible because there’s nothing to compare it to. “No matter how well prepared they are, all moms and dads experience a moment of total shock, when the tidal wave of feelings first washed through them, knocking them off their feet. “Every day, your first thought is not ‘I love him’ but ‘how is he?’ The world, overnight, rearranges itself into an obstacle course of terrors.” Where was the love before? Where did you acquire it from? The way it is suddenly there, total and complete, as sudden as grief, but in reverse, is one of the wonders about being human.” - Matt Haig, How to Stop Time But I mention it here because I still find it a remarkable thing. Of course, most parents love their children instantly. Then sometimes I cry because being a mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” -Lisa Gungor, The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen “Sometimes I cry because I’m so in love with them and my body just doesn’t know what to do with so much love but cry. ![]() Perhaps it takes courage to raise children.” -John Steinbeck, East of Eden A lot of times, parents are not the best at seeing their children clearly.” -Celeste Ng, Little Fires Everywhere “The irony of having teenagers, of course, is that at the exact moment they need to know the things that you alone can tell them, they have reached a moment in their lives when you, as their parent, are the only person they cannot get this information from.” -Jennifer Finney Boylan, Stuck in the Middle With You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders And they might never forget.” -Toni Morrison, God Help the Child They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.” -Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper I would have given anything to keep her little. “Goldfish get big enough only for the bowl you put them in. I had no more thanked her for it than I did the sun for shining on me.” -Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed “She was my mother and she would not leave me. “All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent parents should accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves.” -Andrew Solomon, Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity ![]() She is how things begin.” -Amy Tan, The Bonesetter’s Daughter “I don’t know what’s more exhausting about parenting: the getting up early, or acting like you know what you’re doing.” -Jim Gaffigan, Dad Is Fat “If our kids only expect blessings and exemptions, they will be terrible grown-ups.” -Jen Hatmaker, For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards The walls could fall away, even the whole city, and the brightness of that feeling would not wane.” - Anthony Doeer, All the Light We Cannot See That’s how it feels right now, he thinks, kneeling beside her, rinsing her hair: as though his love for his daughter will outstrip the limits of his body. “There is the humility of being a father to someone so powerful, as if he were only a narrow conduit for another, greater thing. Walk my feet to bones, if only he would be happy and well.” -Madeline Miller, Circe I made a list of all the things I would do for him. “I would look at him and feel a love so sharp it seemed my flesh lay open. Here are some great quotes about parenthood that beautifully describe the many facets of raising children. It is wonderful to come across quotes in books to remind me that I am not alone on this roller coaster ride of parenting. It is not uncommon for me to cruise from one extreme to the other in a single afternoon. Other times I am frustrated and clueless, wondering if I have ruined my kids for life. Sometimes I feel overwhelming joy at the privilege of being a mother, amazed at the seemingly boundless love I have for my children. Parenthood is an experience like no other. Follow her on Twitter All posts by Heather Bottoms She lives with her computer nerd/musician husband and three kids in Tennessee. She hosts book swaps, leads an LGBT-themed book club, and loves to see people bonding over books. When she is not curating her Little Free Library, she is working at her local community theatre or over-preparing for book club. Heather Bottoms is a used book lover, theatre geek, and compulsive volunteer. ![]()
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