January

"To those born into the gaze of loving eyes,
      life is beautiful.
To those welcomed by tender voices,
      life is peaceful.
To those embraced with gentle hands,
      life is secure.
To those born into a world of compassion,
      life is good beyond all measure."

Author unknown,
adapted by Leigh Schroeder Salvage

February

To My Grown-up Son

"My hands were busy through the day
I didn't have much time to play
The little games you asked me to.
I didn't have much time for you.

"I'd wash your clothes, I'd sew and cook,
But when you'd bring your picture book
And ask me, please, to share your fun,
I'd say, 'A little later, son.'

"I'd tuck you in all safe at night,
And hear your prayers, turn out the light,
Then tiptoe softly to the door.
I wish I'd stayed a minute more.

"For life is short, and years rush past,
A little boy grows up so fast.
No longer is he at your side.
His precious secrets to confide.

"The picture books are put away,
There are no children's games to play,
No good night kiss, no prayers to hear.
That all belongs to yesteryear.

"My hands once busy, now lie still
The days are long and hard to fill.
I wish I might go back and do
The little things you asked me to."

Author unknown

March

"I stand up, pull her covers up, turn off her bedside lamp. 'Good night, sweetie.'

"'All right,' she says. It's rare for her to say good night. She doesn't like it, I don't know why. She is turning into herself in these little ways. She is like stepping into the garden every day, when you know something is new, different from the day before. That's how children are, growing up in front of you the way they do. Sometimes it's a barely noticeable thing, like a stem that's slightly taller. Sometimes it's a blossom that's burst forth, obvious as a Vegas showgirl. 'Wow', you think. 'I'd better not miss a day. I'd better be here.'"

Elizabeth Berg,
Range of Motion

Reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. © 1995 Elizabeth Berg

April

"A baby's cry is precisely as serious as it sounds."

Jean Liedloff,
The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost

See also: The Continuum Concept Website

May

"Love is patient, love is kind."

1 Corinthians 13:4

June

"As we grow up, we have an ability to let go of immediate needs for the sake of long term goals. Children don't have such vision. Children live here and now. They need to feel that they have power, that they are important, that they can choose, and that the environment and people around them care about them and respond to them."

Naomi Aldort,
Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves (forthcoming book)

See also: Naomi Aldort Library

July

"Learning is not a product of teaching … kids are born learning. They learn how to walk, how to talk. They're basically little scientists. If we don't stop that process, it will continue."

Grace Llewellyn,
Former teacher and author of The Teenage Liberation Handbook and
Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don't Go to School

August

"Every human being, as he grows into childhood, must inevitably be hampered and opposed by the restrictions of his environment, and the best we can hope for is to modify somewhat the urgency of this conflict. The degree to which we are considerate of our baby's early needs, however, may be the measure of his later ability to feel secure in a world of change and to adapt himself to the necessities of circumstance."

C. Anderson Aldrich, M.D.,
Babies are Human Beings, p. xi. New York: The MacMillan Co., 1938.

September

"By condoning punishment as a disciplinary tool, we perpetuate the acceptability of the use of force and power to control others. At the same time we perpetuate our ignorance and our fear. We use punishment in order to stop behavior rather than having the courage to confront and understand it. By openly dealing with the underlying causes of the child's behavior, both parent and child have the opportunity to get a better and more realistic view of the child's actions, and any potential danger to the child and/or to the parent. We evolved to protect children from harm, not to harm them."

James Kimmel, Ph.D.,
Why Do We Hurt Our Children?

See also: James Kimmel Library

October

"Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity."

Kathy Williams

See also: Kathy Williams' web site

November

"We have a cultural notion that if children were not engineered, if we did not manipulate them, they would grow up as beasts in the field. This is the wildest fallacy in the world."

Joseph Chilton Pearce

December

"There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children."

Marianne Williamson

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