Parenting Quotes from Books You Should Read

There’s a million parenting books on the market. Actually, according to Amazon, there are over 228,000 parenting books. But I’m pretty sure a lot of them say the same thing, and most of them are probably at best cliche, and at worst, garbage.

Obviously, I haven’t read all of them, but I’d like to quote from 9 of my favorite parenting books. There were so many good ones in these few books, that I couldn’t move on to a 10th book or beyond. Maybe next year! By that time, though, I’ll need to review these quotes again.

If you like these, write these nuggets of truth down on 3×5 cards and plaster them around the house, preferably in all the places where you get frustrated at your kids. Perhaps over the kitchen sink or on their bedroom door. Better yet, by the shoe basket where no one puts shoes, the bathroom where nobody hangs up towels, or the kitchen table that nobody cleans off before dinner. Those sorts of places.

I find that when I’m reading and re-reading helpful information, it actually does start to sink in, and I parent with more grace, love, and perspective.

Here are some good ones:

“What controls the heart controls the life.”–Age of Accountability by Paul David Tripp

“When being well-manners is severed from Biblical roots in servanthood, manners becomes a classic tool of manipulation.” & “Your objective in communication must be to understand your child, not simply to have your child understand you.” & “The central focus of child rearing is to being children to a sober assessment of themselves as sinners.”–Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

“The best way to get children to do what you want is to spend time with them before the disciplinary problems occur.”–The New Dare to Discipline by Dr. James Dobson

“We parents have gone out of our way to protect our children from pain and to see that they succeed. The problem with this approach is that kids don’t learn wisdom.” & “Unconditional love is a full love that accepts a child for who he is, not for what he does.”–Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas

“As you pray for your children, you will find it to be an unending habit of your heart. Being able to positively affect your children in prayer will keep you in close contact with them.”–The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

“Parents who give a lot of warnings raise kids who don’t behave until they’ve had a lot of warnings.”–Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster W. Cline

“How you handle your child’s failures is more important than how you handle their successes.”– read Have a New Kid by Friday, The Birth Order Book, When Your Best Is Good Enough, Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours, and What Your Childhood Memories Say About You–by Dr. Kevin Lehmen