“Honor thy father and thy mother.

”
The Bible,
Exodus

Sharing Experiences
9
PARENTING

Everyone was once a child; most are or will become parents. Share your
experiences and exchange ideas on parenting pleasures and challenges.
1. Where are you in your family’s birth order?
2. How old were your parents when you were born?
3. Did your parents ever live with their parents?
4. When you were a baby, who was your primary caretaker?
5. What activities do you remember doing with your mother?
6. What activities do you remember doing with your father?
7. Do you remember playing with your parents? What did you play?
8. When you were a child, were you ever punished? How? Why?
9. Which of your parents was the main disciplinarian in your family?
10. Were the rules different for girls than for boys?
What about family expectations for girls and boys?
11. Do you remember helping either of your parents with chores?
Which ones?
12. Do you know any parents that hovered over their children like a
helicopter? Why or why not?
13. What did your parents expect from you as a teenager?
Did you rebel?
14. Which parenting duties do you think your parents did well?
15. What would you like to change about the way your parents treated
you as a child? A teenager? Why?
16. Are you close with your father or mother now?
What do you do together?
17. Do you resemble either of your parents? How?
18. What are you grateful to your parents for?

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 11. In what ways was it easier to be a parent 40 years ago?
How was it more difficult?
12. What are some problems that parents face today?
13. What are some “good mistakes” that parents sometimes make?
14. What are some of the satisfactions of being a parent?
15. What movies have touched you by their depiction of parents and
children?
16. How would you describe an ideal father? Ideal mother?
17. What five qualities would you like your children to have?
18. Can you share your top five tips for being a loving parent?
Q u o tAt i o n s
Circle the quotations that you agree with.
1. “Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble
their food, and tyrannize their teachers.”
—Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.), Greek philosopher
2. “Obeying from love is better than obeying from fear.”
—Rashi (1040–1105), rabbi and scholar
3. “Give me the children until they are seven and anyone may have
them afterwards.”
—Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552), Catholic educator

★
o n yo u r ow n
Interview a successful parent.
What tips does
that person offer?
OR
List five things you
are grateful for.
1. ...............................................
2. ...............................................
3. ...............................................
4. ...............................................
5. ...............................................
4. “A child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit.”
—Rabelais (1494–1553) French essayist and humanist
5. “Before I got married, I had six theories about bringing up children.
Now I have six children and no theories.”
—John Wilmot, Lord Rochester (1647–1680)
6. “The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second
half by our children.”
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American lawyer
7. “No two children are ever born into the same family.”
—Leo Rosten (1908–1997) American writer
8. “Insanity is hereditary; you can get it from your children.”
—Sam Levenson, (1911–1980) American humorist and journalist
9. “The children have been a wonderful gift to me, and I’m thankful to
have once again seen the world through their eyes.”
—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994) first lady
10. “No parent should ever have to choose between work and family;
between earning a decent wage and caring for a child.”
—Bill Clinton (1946–) 42nd U.S. President
11. “In the final analysis, it is not what you do for your children, but
what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make
them successful human beings.”
—Ann Landers, (1918–2002) advice columnist

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