- Prayer is my best defense and offense. Sometimes it’s my only hope. But that’s OK. God answers prayer. Parenting proves it!
- No rules, they rebel; too many rules, they rebel. Have rules anyway but enforce them appropriately.
- Don’t be such a control freak.
- Relax. Everything’s going to be all right.
- Discipline is always a direct function of love.
- They don’t think I’m as smart as I do. But then again, maybe I’m not that smart.
- If you don’t trust them, you’ll never find out if they can be trusted.
- Experience, in their perception, doesn’t always matter. That’s OK. Experience will teach them it does.
- My perspective is more complex than theirs. Sometimes, if I loosen up, I can understand their simple perspective.
- Just because I understand the potential consequences more clearly doesn’t mean I shouldn’t let them try.
- The only thing they understand is simplicity. Therefore I will live by a new motto: simplify, simplify, simplify.
- Sometimes I have to avoid picking up the clutter so that they can see that they need to pick it up. Though I can do it better, faster, and more effectively by myself, I don’t, I won’t, and I can’t. It’s their responsibility.
- Conflict is expected and inevitable. But, after all is said and done, it strengthens the relationship.
- Making mistakes—even big mistakes—is just part of growth. So, let them make appropriate mistakes. Afterwards, encourage and help them learn from their mistakes.
- The greatest wisdom comes from making the greatest mistakes.
- Not everyone will like me because of my child. It doesn’t matter. My child is a child of God. That’s all that matters.
- Unfortunately, kids don’t come with remote controls. Fortunately, neither do I. Sometimes they think I do. At those times I must remind them that I don’t.
- I can’t treat every child alike. They’re just too different! Learn to love and celebrate the differences.
- Since I can’t always control the end result; the best I can do is instill values and motivate achievement. The rest is up to them…and God.
- Though it wasn’t what I wanted, I will celebrate how my children reinvented my original idea…even if I didn’t always understand it.
- I usually let the kids think it was really their idea.
- I can distinguish between the essential and the small stuff. I don’t sweat the small stuff. The essentials I deal with the best I can. The rest I leave to God. (It’s funny, seems the older the children get, the more I leave to God! That’s OK, too. I have a really BIG God!)
- Parenting is the most joyful and painful thing a person can do.
- Follow-through and accountability are essential development tools for children..
- Children need a parent to lead—even though they may not want or like one. Lead anyway.
- God always comes through. Boy, does He ever!!!
- Consensus and agreement aren’t always possible.
- Sometimes you got to go against the flow, take a chance, and stand up to the opposition.
- Trust your intuition…especially when they refuse to give you the facts.
- Be able to change plans on the fly because even the best plans can go awry.
- Don’t worry about how stupid, dumb, or incompetent you look. You cant’ change their perception of you anyway. If you think you can, then you’re really stupid, dumb, and ….
- Sometimes I’m wrong, even when I think I’m right. Eat crow, ask forgiveness and move on.
- Sometimes the best things that happen are the things I don’t know about. In fact, sometimes the greatest moments of parenting were moments of ignorance.
- As long as I’m a parent, I’ll never stop learning about me, about my family, and about God’s faithfulness, strength, and leading in my life and those in my family.
- God’s greatest blessings come through the people that He has placed closest to me.
Thomas F. Fischer
