Raising a child....

Education If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much. Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.
The Beginning

You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed.

Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end.

What greater or better gift can we offer the republic than to teach and instruct our youth.

Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.
Education is wasted on those of school age.

Keep the Child in the Man
Children are born true scientists. They spontaneously experiment and experience and reexperience again. They select, combine, and test, seeking to find order in their experiences -

The young always have the same problem; how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.

Children aren't happy without something to ignore, And that's what parents were created for. By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.

There's nothing wrong with teenagers that reasoning with them won't aggravate.