When kids made a decision for themselves they have a vested interest in showing they were right. Lee wanted to prove to me that he had made the right choice so he worked hard and did well. If we'd forced him to go to college somewhere else all the incentives would've been different. Then he would have had a motive to prove that we were wrong.

Cokie Roberts

children decision-making fatherhood motherhood

Related Quotes

With children the clock is reset. We forget what came before

— Jhumpa Lahiri

fatherhoodmotherhoodparenting

Children weren't meant to raise themselves.

— Cristabel Michaels

AbuseChildrenFatherhood

I won't lie to you, fatherhood isn't easy like motherhood

— Dan Castellaneta

EasyFatherhoodLie

I can speak of our baby like this to no one else. Who but his father would linger over the exact width of his gummy little smile or the blueness of his eyes, or the sweetness of his little lick of tawny hair on his forehead?

— Philippa Gregory

child-rearingfatherhoodmotherhood

Tough love does not come across as love but as punishment. Isn't there enough suffering in the world?

— Cristabel Michaels

AbuseChildrenCompassion