80 Best Parenting Quotes & Relatable, Funny Quotes About Parenting
Parenting is a breeze... said no one ever.
We think this goes without saying, but parenting is no easy feat. For starters, unlike a 9 to 5 job, this is one job that never ends. But even the best quotes about parenting can help you understand a little more about it.
Some say it is actually the toughest job in the world, and the parenting quotes below prove just that.
If there was a salary it would be way higher than that of a CEO of a big company. The stakes are higher and the emotions are always running.
But being given the task of loving another human life unconditionally, despite any and every flaw they may have, is also the greatest job of them all. Even when they're hormonal, raging teenagers who take you on a first-class flight to hell up until the day they leave for college and then some.
And even though raising kids is really tough, just know one day in the future your children will reflect on all of those times they drove you insane. They may even thank you for all that you did to help make them into who they are.
At the end of the day, no matter how much you teach them, you're going to have to trust them to go out into the world on their own and become who they're supposed to be. That's all because of you as well. You were in charge of forming a young human being and making them who they are today.
They may not thank you right away, but their appreciation will come as the years pass by. Their appreciation will come in leaps and bounds and they will admire all of the strength you had to be a parent to them.
There's no question that parenting can sometimes feel like a messy and unpredictable ride, but that's just what being a parent entails, which makes us anticipate the moment when our kids have children of their own and finally understand what parenting is really like.
Until that day, all you can do is cherish all of the memories. All the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because all of it is a part of your family's story. And that is truly beautiful. Life is just a little sweeter when you have a big family to share it with.
That being said, these are some of the best parenting quotes that will help put the love we have for our family into perspective.
1. "What it's like to be a parent: It's one of the hardest things you'll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love." —Nicholas Sparks
2. "If you have never been hated by your child, you have never been a parent."
3. "To understand your parents' love, you must raise children yourself." —Chinese Proverb
4. "They say that parenting is like dancing. You take one step, your child takes another." —Michael Jackson
5. "You know you're a mom when...sleeping in until 8 am feels as magical as riding out of your bedroom on a unicorn."
6. "Some of the things I hated my parents for when I was younger are the same things I love my parents for now that I'm older." —Steve Maraboli
7. "Don't ever be ashamed to tell your parents you love them. Ever."
8. "No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us."
9. "But it had no doubt sprung from true emotion, for all that parents ever wanted, really, was for you to love their child the way they did." —Meg Wolitzer
10. "Children have got to lead their own lives."
11. "The greatest challenge of parenting is in the inner work it requires: the strength and confidence in believing that we are not in control of, but the answer for our children." —Kelly Bartlett
12. "A quiet toddler scares a mother more than almost any other unnatural event."
13. "Now I know why some animals eat their young."
14. "Love your parents' 'n treat them with loving care, for you will only know their value when you see their empty chair."
15. "Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands." —Anne Frank
16. "Every time you don't eat your sandwich a unicorn dies #DadFacts. Love, Dad"
17. "Parenting isn't a noun but a verb—an ongoing process instead of an accomplishment. And that no matter how many years you put into the job, the learning curve is, well, fairly flat." —Jodi Picoult
18. "Love between man and woman is unstable, but the beautiful love that springs from companionship of children and parents lasts until the end of time." —R.L. Alasker
19. "Just when you think you might be feeling good about your mommy skills, a trip to the store with your kids can put you back in your place really quick."
20. "Parenting is the easiest thing in the world to have an opinion about, but the hardest thing in the world to do."
21. "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, but if you continue to scream like that I'm going to act like I don't know you."
22. "Momster: What happens to mom after she counts to 3..."
23. "I just had to apoligize to a toy shark then kiss a fire engine goodnight!! Parenthood is weirder than I thought it'd be..."
24. "Unconditional Parenting: Moving from rewards and punishments to love and reason." —Alfie Kohn
25. "Parenthood is saying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Oddly enough, that is the definition for insanity. Coincidence? I think not!"
26. "Shower Schizophrenia: The constant belief that you hear a child crying while you're trying to take a shower."
27."Parenting is an impossible task at any age." —Harrison Ford
28. "That awkward moment where you realize you just punished your kid for acting exactly like you."
29. "Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it."
30. "Mother [muhth-er] -noun 1. One person who does the work of twenty. For free. (See also: 'masochist,' 'loony,' 'saint'.)"
31. "No parent can child-proof the world, a parents job is to world-proof the child"
32. "People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."
33. "Your children will become who you are; so be who you want them to be."
34. "Parenting is really just a matter of tracking, of hoping your kids do not get so far ahead you can no longer see their next moves." —Jodi Picoult
35. "Bedtime: the perfect time for kids to ask questions, request food, require additional bathroom breaks, and need a new nightlight."
36. "Parenting is not for sissies. You have to sacrifice and grow up." —Jillian Michaels
37. "A child can teach an adult three things: To be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires." —Paulo Coelho
38. "Shhhh. Mommy is in a timeout."
39. "Motherhood: when changing from plaid flannel pj pants into black yoga pants qualifies as 'getting dressed.'"
40. "A parent means loving your child more than you've ever loved yourself"
41. "Now you understand why Peter Pan didn't want to grow up."
42. "At 6 yrs: 'Mommy, I love you.' At 10 yrs: 'Mom, whatever.' At 16: 'My mom is so annoying.' At 18: 'I wanna leave this house.' At 25: 'Mom you were right.' At 30: 'I wanna go to Mom's house.' At 50: 'I don't wanna lose my mom.' At 70: 'I would give up everything for my mom to be here with me.'"
43. "Sometimes when family members least deserve love, they need it most. Love is not appropriately expressed in threats, accusations, expressions of disappointment, or retaliation. Real love takes time, patience, help, and continuing performances." —Marvin J. Ashton
44. "Family is the people you love, who love you back" —Karen Marie Hart
45. "Friends and family argue and fight, but it means nothing. It's human nature. Love isn't perfectly patient or kind or sunny. Love is volatile and tempestuous and forgiving." —Alyssa Day
46. "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." —Lilo & Stitch
47."Where there is Love, there is Life. Where there is Life, there is a family and where there is a family, there lies happiness." —Uma Maheswari Anandane
48. "I wonder if what makes a family a family isn't doing everything right all the time but, instead, giving a second chance to the people you love who do things wrong." —Jodi Picoult
49. "Enjoy life."
50. "The family is the basis of society. As the family is, so is the society, and it is human beings who make a family-not the quantity of them, but the quality of them." —Ashley Montagu
51. "Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they're already asleep." — H. Jackson Brown, Jr
52. "There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one." Sue Atkins
53. “I came to parenting the way most of us do — knowing nothing and trying to learn everything.” — Mayim Bialik
54. “My children are the reason I laugh, smile, and want to get up every morning."Gena Lee Nolin
55. “Everyone should have kids. They are the greatest joy in the world. But they are also terrorists. You’ll realize this as soon as they’re born, and they start using sleep deprivation to break you.” — Ray Romano
56. "Having a child is like getting a tattoo ... on your face. You better be committed." Elizabeth Gilbert
57. "There really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child." Anne Lamott
58. “Parenting without a sense of humor is like being an accountant who sucks at math.” — Amber Dusick
59. "The beauty of motherhood is in the folds and creases of our lives, the grimaces and tantrums, the moments when we have to grit our teeth to get through, when we pound on windows and yell and scream and demand better of each other and ourselves.” — Robyn Passante
60. “When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.”Nora Ephron
61. "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 Ayers
62. “Having a baby dragged me, kicking and screaming, from the world of self-absorption.” — Paul Reiser
63. "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."Franklin P. Adams
64. "Having children is like living in a frat house — nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up."Ray Romano
65. “The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” — Peggy O’Mara
66. "We never know the love of the parent till we become parents ourselves."Henry Ward Beecher
67. “Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.” — Oprah Winfrey
68. "There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."Jill Churchill
69. "The thing about parenting rules is there aren’t any. That’s what makes it so difficult."Ewan McGregor
70. "We may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future."Franklin D. Roosevelt
71. "Why don’t kids understand their nap is not for them, but for us?"Alyson Hannigan
72. "It just occurred to me that the majority of my diet is made up of the foods that my kid didn’t finish." Carrie Underwood
73. “No matter how much time you spend reading books or following your intuition, you’re gonna screw it up. Fifty times. You can’t do parenting right.” — Alan Arkin
74. "Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws."Barbara Kingsolver
75. "Mother Nature is providential. She gives us twelve years to develop a love a love for our children before turning them into teenagers."William Galvin
76. “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
77. "Your children are not your children, they come through you, but they are life itself, wanting to express itself."Wayne Dyer
78. “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” ― Benjamin Spock
79. "I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know."Mitch Albom
80. “No one is ever quite ready; everyone is always caught off guard. Parenthood chooses you.” ― Marisa de los Santos, Love Walked In