O Heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen
patiently 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 meaness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord,
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, O Lord, to be loved
and respected and imitated by my children.
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