The Parent's Prayer

Dear God, make me a better parent.

Teach me to understand my children,

to listen to what they have to say,

and to answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.

Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.

Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes,

or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.

May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction

or to show my power.

Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal.

And guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate

by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.

And when I am out of sorts, help me to hold my tongue.

May I ever be mindful that my children are children

and I should not expect of them the judgment of adults.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves

and to make decisions.

Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests

and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.

Make me fair and just and kind.

And fit me, Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated

by my children."