Dear 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,
talking back to them, and
contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to
them as I would have them
be to me. Give me the courage
to confess my sins against my children and to ask of them forgiveness
when I know that I have
done them wrong.
May not I vainly hurt the
feelings of my children.
Forbid that I should laugh
at their mistakes
or resort to shame and ridicule
as punishment.
Let me not tempt my child
to lie and steal.
So 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.
May I cease to nag; and
when I am out of sorts,
help me, O Lord, to hold
my tongue.
Blind me to the little errors
of my children,
and help me to see the good
things that they do.
Give me a ready word to honest
praise.
Help me to grow up with
my children,
to treat them as those of
their own age,
but let me not expect of
them
the judgments and conventions
of adults.
Allow me not to rob them
of the opportunity
to wait upon themselves,
to think,
to choose and to make decisions.
Forbid that I should ever
punish them for my
selfish satisfaction.
May I grant them all their
wishes that are
reasonable and have the
courage always to withhold
a privilege which I know
will do them harm.
Make me so fair and just,
so considerate
and companionable to my children
that
they will have a genuine
esteem for me.
Fit me to be loved and imitated
by my children.
Amen
Author Unknown