I was sitting, in that balcony with my mother, "Miss Hayes said.

"It was The Merry Widow. When the curtain fell and my mother got up to go, I sprawled across my seat and said, 'I don't want to leave, I wouldn't go.'I thought that if I stayed, it would start over. You know, I never left the theatre after that."

R.D. US Feb.82 P.33

When Albert Schweitzer the great missionary doctor, was a boy, a friend proposed that they go up in the hills and kill birds. 

Albert was reluctant, but afraid of being laughed at, he went along. They arrived at a tree in which a flock of birds was singing; the boys put stones in their catapults. Then the church bells began to ring, mingling music with bird song. For Albert, it was a voice from heaven. He shooed the birds away and went home. 

From that day on, reverence for life was more important to him than the fear of being laughed at.

R.D. US Jan. 83 P. 80

AMERICA'S AMAZING TEEN-AGE ENTREPRENEURS

Examples

At age 15, Robert Lewis Dean II borrowed $ 1500 from his parents, bought a 1972 Cadillac, taught himself how to fix it up and sold it at a profit. That venture after 5 years was the beginning of an entrepreneurial career that has seen him start a business at 16, sell it for $ 100.000, and launch several other mostly successful businesses.

He opened Coach House Cars Inc. an Arlington VA, antique-auto business, where he restored classic American vehicles ranging from a '42 Packard to a '57 Thunderbird. He sold the business when he was 17 after grossing $ 600.000 in a single year.

Finally when he reached $ 2.000.000 a year revenue, he commented "I'm far off my goals,"

By the time she was 14, Joanne Marlowe was designing clothes for herself and her friends. Her reputation spread steadily, helping her develop a clothing-design business into $ 2.500-a-month enterprise in 4 years time. Then at 19 she opened Joanne Marlowe Designs in one of the nicest shopping areas in Evanston Ill, projecting sales of $ 100.000 for her first year of operation.

John Herman, who lives in Cleveland, was only eight, when he began peddling pens, coffee mugs, T-shirts and other items left over from his uncle Bob's specialty advertising business. His early customers were relatives and neighbours, but by the time he was 12 he was introducing Cleveland executives to a line of specialty items and beginning to build a long-term clientele.

At 18 Herman has eight employees and his company reached sales of  $ 500,000. "Sometimes I'm bothered because I think I could be doing a lot better," he says. "Then I remember-I'm only 18 years old."

R.D. US Mar. 86 P.31

"I was the baby of the family" says Olympic gymnastic champion Mary Leu Retton. "I always got the hand-me-downs and always got picked on. My competitive edge came from that."

When she was eight years old, watching Nadia Comaneci compete in 76 Olympics on television, she plotted to get to the 84 Games and replicate her heroine's successes. "I just had it in me, and my sister would teach me back flips and stuff, and I'd be breaking lamps and destroying the house." Her mother finally entered Mary Leu in a gymnastic class, she says, to give her a less dangerous place to practice flips and tumbling. 

R.D. US May 86 P. 36

Producer's Steven's Spielberg's mother, Leah, remembers all too well what her son was like as a boy.

Steven's room was a mess. Once his lizard got out of its cage, and we found it, living, three years later. He had a parakeet he refused to keep in cage. Every week, I would stick my head in his room, grab his dirty laundry and slam the door. If I had known better, I would have taken him to a psychiatrist-and there would never been an E.T.

Fred A. Bernstein R.D. US May 87 P. 209

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately, without growing apart.

Elisabeth Foley R.D. US June P. 178

A laugh at your own expense cost you nothing.

Mary H. Waldrip R.D. US June 87 P. 178

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.

J.B. Massieu R.D. US June 87 P.178

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

Carl Sagan R.D. US June 87 P. 178

Education is not training, but rather the process that equips you to entertain yourself, a friend and an idea.

Wallace Sterling R.D. US June 87 P. 178

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake R.D. US June 87 P. 178

Honda at 80 years of age sometime itches to be a designer again. "I have some ideas," he says. "But I always find out that younger people have already done them. Young people are wonderful! They've learned from our experiences, and then they add their own ideas.

Susan Chira R.D. US June 87 P. 193

Harpo Marx's son Bill, on his father: At dinnertime, Dad would begin his nightly ritual by raising his forefinger and intoning, "And in conclusion..." Then we would go around the table-Mom, Alex, Jimmy, Mimie and I-reviewing our triumphs and trials of the day.  Dad fielded grapes by reducing tragedy to absurdity. Soon you were laughing at yourself, and your problem faded away. He was a born healer.

R.D. US June 87 P. 193

Poet Jesse Stuart describes returning to the Kentucky hills: "Chickens come home to roost," my mother told me. I did, too, and that country never looked as good to me as then. The dogwood blossoms were a little whiter, the redbud a little pinkier, the streams a little bluer. I was away from college, away from town, back to the life I knew. I was home-and the poems came to me. 

I wrote 42 in half a day and never revised them.

Mary Margaret McBride R.D. US June 87 P.193 

When Bill Gates was in sixth grade, he was at war with his mother Mary.

She would call him to dinner from his basement bedroom, which she had given up trying to make him clean and he wouldn't respond. "What are you doing?"she once demanded over the intercom. "I'm thinking," he shouted back. "You're thinking?"

"Yes, Mom I'm thinking," he said fiercely. "Have you ever tried thinking?" So a psychiatrist took over and after a year of sessions and batteries of tests, the counsellor reached his conclusion.

"You're going to lose" he told Mary. "You had better just adjust to it because there is no use trying to beat him." A lot of computer companies have concluded the same. In the 21 years since he dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, William Henry Gates III, 41, has trashed competitors in the world of desktop operating systems and application software. In the process he has amassed a fortune of 23.9 billions. (As of last Friday)

Time Magazine 13 Jan. 97 P. 32

When Benjamin Franklin was seven years old, a visitor gave him some small change. Later seeing another boy playing with a whistle, young Benjamin gave the boy all his money for it. He played the whistle all over the house, enjoying it until he discovered that he'd given four times as much as the whistle was worth. Instantly, the whistle lost its charm.

As he grew older, Franklin generalized this principle. When he saw a man neglecting his family or business for political popularity, or a miser giving up friendships for the sake of accumulating wealth, he'd say, "He pays too much for the whistle."

Thomas Fleming R.D. US Feb. 88 P. 198

The Boys Choir of Harlem operate out of a dilapidated former school building in a crack-dealing neighbourhood., yet has often succeeded in its mission of teaching youngsters to sing like angels and act like men. Walter Turnbull, the 43-year-old founder-director, is determined to help each boy. If a kid is having trouble, musical or personal, Turnbull a former opera tenor, wouldn't give up. In a city where a large percentage of blacks entering high school do not graduate, 98 percent of the chorus goes on to college. "Introduce a child to what beauty is at age ten," Turnbull declares, "and he will look for it for the rest of his life." 

Meg Cox R.D. May 88 P. 65

We are all born with wide-eyed enthusiastic wonder-as anyone knows who has ever seen an infant's delight at the jingle of keys or the scurrying of a beetle. It is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age.

Barbara Bartocci R.D. US Oct. 88 P. 151

My teen-age son was at that rebellious stage when a parent endorsement of anything is the kiss of death. So I was pleased he asked me to help him pick out a shirt to wear to a party.

On his bed were the choices: blue, white and beige. "I like the blue one" I said. "What's your second choice?" "The white one."

"Thanks," he said-and put on the beige shirt.

Sybil Calahan R.D. US Nov. 88 P. 92

CHARLIE CHAPLIN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

It was owing to {Mother's deteriorating} vocal condition that at the age of five I made my first appearance on the stage. Mother usually brought me to the theatre at night in preference to leaving me alone in rented rooms. She was playing at a grubby, mean theatre catering mostly to soldiers. They were a rowdying lot and wanted little excuse to ridicule. I remember standing in the wings when Mother's voice cracked and went into a whisper. The audience began to laugh and make catcalls. Mother was obliged to walk off the stage. The stage manager who has seen me perform before Mother's friends, said something about letting me go on in her place. And in the turmoil I remember him leading me by the hand and, after a few explanatory words to the audience , leaving me on stage alone. And before a glare of footlights and faces in smoke, I started to sing a well known song, "Jack Jones." 

Halfway through a shower of money poured on stage. Immediately I stopped and announced that I wouldn't pick up the money first and sing afterwards. This caused much laughter. I talked to the audience, danced and did several imitations, including one of Mother singing her Irish march song. And in repeating the chorus, in all innocence I imitated Mother's voice cracking and was surprised at the impact it had on the audience. There was laughter and cheers, then more money-throwing; and when Mother came on stage to carry me off, her presence evoked tremendous applause. That night was my first appearance on the stage and mother's last.

R.D. Can. Apr. 89 P. 28

Teaching your kids how to contribute to family life is part of being a good parent. Children need responsibilities in the home.  Even two year-olds can learn to put away their pyjamas. And by the time the child has reached 14, he should e able to do most household chores on his own-including taking care of his own needs and belongings, planning and cooking a meal, cleaning the house and budgeting his money.

If you give your children the impression that they could never do something quite right, then they will see themselves as inadequate and incapable. Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent. 

Learning is a process of trying and failing and trying and succeeding. If you teach your children not to fear mistakes, they will learn faster, and feel free to accept new challenges.

Give rewards not bribes. Many experts advise paying money for household chores. Such jobs are part of the family responsibilities. But non cash often work well. If your child accomplishes a task well, reward him with a special trip to the ice-cream store or a ball game with dad.

Chores provide a golden opportunity to teach your children the significance of making a contribution. 

By starting early and gradually increasing responsibilities, you can make life easier for yourself-and more rewarding for your children. 

Elva Anson R.D. Can. Oct. 89 P. 33-36

It's often said that winning is better than losing, success infinitely preferable to failure. But when the emphasis is on winning, children become overcautious, fearful of making mistakes. When the emphasis is on competition, winner skills develop at the expense of empathy, co-operation, compromise - life arts essential to human success. Perhaps the most devastating of the success ethic is what the child comes to believe about himself-that he is valued for what he can produce or achieve, rather than for who he is. Can it be that a child may well wonder, that being loved depends on winning? The truth is, we are not all winners. The way to happiness is surely coming to terms with our limitations while making the most of our natural endowments. What children need is loving assistance in learning how to fail. They need to learn that failure is an inevitable part of human life, that every failure is partial only, and that no failure is final. Living well, becoming the best person one could possibly be, is the only success worth talking about.

Fredelle Maynard R.D. Can. Dec. 89 P. 177

When I hear my friends say they hope their children don't have to experience the hardship they went through-I don't agree.
Those hardships have made us what we are. You can be disadvantaged in many ways, and one way may be not having to struggle.

Fortune R.D. US June 91 P. 91 

DIARY OF A BABY

Because of advances in scientific observation we now know more about the early years than ever. The advances came about because in part we learned to ask babies questions they could answer themselves. For instance, can a two-day-old baby know his mother by her smell? A breast pad wet from the nursing mother was put on the pillow to the right of the infant's head. A second pad from another mother was placed on the left sides. The infant turned his head to the right. When the pads were reversed, he turned to the left. He not only knew his mother's smell, but preferred it, and he answered by turning his head.

To learn what babies like to look when at three months we can place an electronically bugged pacifier into the baby's mouth and hook it up to a slide projector. The baby quickly learns that each time she wants to see a new slide, she needs only start to suck. The baby will also show his/her preferences when the pacifier is hooked up to two audio cassette machines. One has the recording of the mother's voice; the other of another woman speaking the same words.

The baby will suck so that he can spend more time with his mother's voice. At four months old he knows his mother features and movements thoroughly. If she deviate far from the expected, the child gets disturbed. If she wipe off all expression from her face. preoccupied by troubles with her husband for instance, or her career, the child smile dies away and he frowns. A child may even imitate his mother's mood. Psychological problems can arise from a child's trying to cope with a depressed, anxious, psychotic or violent parent. (This is an abbreviation from an article about 6 pages)

Daniel N.Stern M.D. R.D. US July 91 P. 135

Children are hungry for praise, reassurance and appreciation. A young mother told her pastor of a heart-rending incident: My little boy often misbehave, and I have to scold him. But one day he had been especially good. That night, after I tucked him in bed and started downstairs, I heard him crying. I found his head buried in the pillow. Between sobs he asked, 'Mommy, haven't I been a good boy today?' "That question went through me like a knife," the mother said. 'I had been quick to correct him when he did something wrong, but when he had behaved, I hadn't noticed. I had put him to bed without a word of praise.

Gottfried R. von Kronenberger R.D. US July 91 P. 144 

Children are completely independent readers. A child doesn't care about the critics because the child himself is a critic. He is actually a more independent reader than the adult, who is impressed by authorities, criticism and big advertisements in the New York Times or on television. It's harder to fool children than to fool adults, when it comes to literature. 

Isaak Bashevis Singer R.D. US Aug. 91 P. 100

I love to watch my colleague at Centre for Sports Psychology, Roberts Vasco Kraus, making her two-year-old feel successful. "Tommy" she'll say, " see if you can pick up three toys. One-that's very good, Tommy. Two-good job. Three! Good!. And she'll applaud and hug him. Some people would say "That's so trivial" But you build self esteem in tiny bits, one after another.

Negative remarks may be detrimental. Worse, the criticism may be accompanied by put-downs-"You're so dumb!" :Why can't you get this thing through your head?" "God you're so clumsy!" If you keep telling your son something's wrong with him, sooner or later he'll believe it. Criticize the behaviour, not the child. Follow every "That's wrong!" by explaining what's right.

Assess your child strengths. What do you like to do? What's fun for you? What are you good at? 

Rehearse-mentally. A prominent ballerina once told me she practices her entire performance in her head, movement by movement, in exactly the time it would require on stage. The best athletes, from swimmers to football players to skiers visualize their performances too. Since kids have vivid imaginations, they take readily to imagination. Before an exam, urge your kid to study hard and then create a motion picture of the whole test, from the instant the bell rings until students are told to lay down their pencils. It's recognition not bribes that pleases your child. 

It's a gradual process of support, encouragement and hard work. And those efforts pay off not only in peak performances but in closer, warmer relations between parent and child.

John E. Anderson R.D. US Sep. 91 P.81-84 

While my young son Doug was looking at a full moon, he asked,  "Mom, is God in the moon?" I explained that God is everywhere. 

"Is he in my Tummy?" Doug wanted to know. "Well, sort of," I responded not sure where these questions were leading. Then Doug declared, "God wants a banana."

Buff Spies R.D. US Oct. 91 P. 80

Childhood today is too hurried and fast. Development is a process not a race. Women feel that if they can run a big ad agency or write a column or present a show, by golly, they can make the best child that's ever been. To me. the most important thing one can give a child is genuinely unconditional love. That is what self-esteem and self-confidence are founded on. When you push a child to do things early or to be the best at gymnastics or dancing class, you imply: "I love you more when you win." That is very damaging.

Penelope Leach R.D. US Dec. 91 P. 164

Overcoming a child's shyness requires patience to understand, patience to support and patience not to demand spectacular results. But millions of people have succeeded in shedding their shyness. With the help of loving parents, children who now feel trapped in their shyness can be freed to enjoy more of life fullness and promise. 

Edwin Kiester Jr. and Sally Valente Kiester R.D. US Aug. 92 P. 102

Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, sensitive, quick and generally congenital readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with. as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly and clearly. Some writers for children deliberately avoid using words they think a child doesn't know. 

This emasculates the prose, and I suspect, bores the reader. Children are game for anything. I throw them hard words, and they back hand them over the net. They love words that gives them a hard time, provided that they are in a context that absorbs their attention. 

E.B. White R.D. US Sept. 92 P. 140 

The most important "secret" of the super-achievers is not so secret. For almost all straight-A students the contribution of their parents was crucial. From infancy, the parents imbued them with a love for learning. They set high standards for their kids and held them to these standards. They encouraged their sons and daughters in their studies but did not do the work for them. In short, the parents impressed the lessons of responsibility on their kids, and the kids delivered.

Edwin Kiester Jr. and Sally Valente Kiester. R.D. US Sep. 92 P. 144

Often the best gifts are those that the children grow into it not out of. Give a six-year-old he can read a little now and will eventually learn to read it in full. Similarly, choose toys or games that need some effort to master.

Edwin Kiester Jr. R.D. Dec. 92 Pges 193-198

Parents can plant magic in a child's mind through certain words spoken with some thrilling quality of voice, some uplift of the heart and spirit.

Robert Mc. Neil R.D. US Feb. 93 P. 37

All across this country, the undermining and destruction of the values that the children were taught at home is going on in public schools. One of the first things a family tries to teach its children is the difference between right and wrong. One of the first things our schools try to destroy is that distinction. The up-to-date way to carry on the destruction of traditional values is to claim to be solving some social problems like drugs, AIDS or teen-age pregnancy. Only those few who have the time to research what is actually being done in "drug education" "sex education" or "death education" courses know what an utter fraud these labels are.

Thomas Sowell R.D. US Mar. 93 P. 178

Society seems to want to constrict childhood more and more. Perhaps it has to do with not wanting to be care-givers anymore because we are too fearful or too busy. Society wants kids to grow up more quickly. It offers them rewards for being more and more adult like in their behaviour rather than childlike. Children need someone to reassure them that play-their own, unique, imaginative play-is something to be valued. Children need to be valued for who they are, and not for something in the future.

Fred Rogers R.D. US May 93 P. 211

MAKE YOUR CHILD A LEADER

Not long ago I asked a group of nursery-school teachers whether they could identify the leaders among their four-and-five-year-olds.

"Of course,"They replied. These kids were self confident, treated both adults and peers with respect, shared toys willingly, were good-humoured, showed initiative and curiosity. They were first to start a project; the other kids watched them, then followed their lead. And most of all, their enthusiasm was contagious.

A promising 12-year-old gymnast came to me for help. She had all the skills of a future Olympic medalist, yet never seemed to live up to her potential. I handed her four darts and instructed her to toss them at a target in my office. She looked at me nervously. "What if I miss?" she asked. These four words summed up her disappointing career. Instead of focusing on how to succeed, she worried about how to keep from failing.

In the end it's not your words but your example that counts. If you make carping remarks about your neighbours or co-workers, you can't expect your son or daughter to develop respect for others. If you dodge paying your taxes, you can't preach about responsibility. Studies of leaders have shown that parents, too, exhibited leadership qualities, though often in unrecognized ways. They considered community service important. They made a point of helping others. They had dreams for their families-couched in terms of values and standards, rather than material gain. Put to the test they displayed inner strength that brought the family through tight places. 

John E Anderson R.D. US July 93 Pges. 22-26

Sometime we are so concerned about giving our children what we never had growing up, we neglect to give them what we "did" have growing up.

James Dobson R.D. US July 93 P. 150

HELP YOUR CHILD BOUNCE BACK

After raising three children through college as a lone parent for 17 years with some help from community a nine year old boy asked; Those people helped you a lot. "Is there a group for kids?"

I started inquiries and in 1983 I began a nonprofit, peer support organization for schools. Today, RAINBOWS, based in Schaumburg Ill. has 4500 programs in 46 states and 13 other countries, and has helped more than 350.000 children and teens deal with the broad range of crises that can hit any family-death, divorce, unemployment, serious injury and disease among others.

Children can handle almost any truth when it's shared by someone they know and trust. If the family stress involves an accident, make it clear how the accident happened. Otherwise, some children may feel unwarranted guilt. 

With a major emergency, carefully explain how family life may change. For children, the unknown is worse than reality.

Children recover more easily from a major family setback if one or both parents lead the way. Studying the impact of financial hardship on adolescents in 450 Midwestern families, Iowa State University researchers found that teens were affected less by family economic problems than by their parent's reaction to these problems.

Suzy Yehl Marta R.D. US Oct. 93 Pges 169-174

WHAT SMART PEOPLE TELL THEMSELVES

"What we put into our brains is what we will get back," says psychologist Shad Helmstetter, author of "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself." Your behaviour, your feelings, your sense of self esteem, even your level of stress are influenced by your inner speech." write Pamela Buttler, author of Talking to Yourself.

What we say to ourselves determines the direction and quality of lives. Our self-talk can make the difference between happiness and despair, between self-confidence and self-doubt. 

Saul Miller a sports psychologist in Vancouver says: "The more we put positive thoughts in our minds, the better we shall perform. Athletes are using this technique to become champions, and we can all use it to become champions in our own lives."

The late Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, cites two examples supporting the power of the mind. When college students were instructed to imagine one of their hand dunked in ice water, thermometer readings showed the temperature dropped in that hand. Similarly, when others were told to imagine that a small spot on their forehead was hot, there was an actual increase in skin temperature. 

Robert McGarvey. R.D. US Oct. 93 P. 149

Parents can plant magic in a child's mind through certain words spoken with some thrilling quality of voice, some uplift of heart and spirit. 

Robert MacNeil R.D. US Feb 94 P. 145

The greatest gifts you can give to your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.

Frederico Fellini R.D. US Mar. 94 P. 165

Like most 12-year-olds, Masoud Karkehabadi is busy studying in school. Unlike other kids his age, however he's in his last year at the university, studying for his medical-school entrance exams. With an A average and an IQ of more than 200 (140 is considered genius level),Karkehabadi will earn his biology degree from the University of California at Irvine in June. Then he will begin medical school in the fall and will be well on his way to become a neurosurgeon-all before he's old enough to get a driving licence.

Laura Hilgers R.D. US May 94 P. 86

You never know what little what little bundle of encouragement artists carry around with them, what little pats on the back from what hands, what newspaper clipping, what word of hope from that teacher. I suppose that faith in ourselves is the foundation of our talent, but I am sure these encouragements are the mortar that holds it together. 

Luciano Pavarotti R.D. US June 94 P. 155

The word "no" carries a lot more meaning when spoken by a parent who also knows how to say yes.

Joyce Maynard R.D. US Aug. 94 P. 29

WHAT'S BEHIND SUCCESS IN SCHOOL?

Reader's Digest invited 2130 high-school seniors to take a special academic test and then answer a list of personal questions.

Among the poll's top findings. 

Strong families give kids an edge in school. For instance, students who lived with two parents scored high more often on our test than students who didn't. Students who shared mealtime with their families tested better than those who didn't. This "family gap" showed up for students of all backgrounds. 

Children with college-educated parents tested better than kids whose parents didn't go past high school.

HOW STUDENTS FARED IF THEY LIVED WITH...

Two parents 53% scored high.

Mom only 41% scored high

Ate meals with their families

4 times weekly or more 60% scored high

3 times weekly or less 42% scored high

Students who said their family was wonderful

54% scored high 

Students who said family was okay, bad or miserable

36% scored high

FAMILIES ARE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO GIRLS

Ate meals with their families

4 times weekly or more 51% scored high

3 times weekly or fewer 32% scored high

Lived with....

2 parents 44% scored high 

mom only 30% scored high

Said life at home was.....

wonderful/good 42% scored high

okay/bad/miserable 26% scored high.

Rachel Wildavsky R.D. US Oct. 94 Pges 49-55

A child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ. The infection when it comes-and it will come-may overwhelm the system, be it the immune system or the belief system.

Jane Smiley R.D. US Oct. 94 P. 159

The best inheritance a parent could give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.

O.A. Batista R.D. US Dec. 94 P. 23

Children have more need of models than critics.

Carolyn Coats R.D. US May 95 P. 31

Einstein said: "Never forget that science is that kind of exploring and fun" while following falling water drops with the eyes. 

By sharing your children's curiosity, you can give them a valuable lesson that extends far beyond the realm of science.

They will learn that it pays to persist, to experiment, in the face of difficulties. And they will clearly see that learning is not drudgery or something that happens only in school. Learning is something to be enjoyed every day-for a lifetime.

Mary Budd Rowe R.D. US May 95 Pges 177-184

The best upbringing that the children can receive is to observe their parents taking excellent care of themselves-mind, body, and spirit. Children, being the world's greatest mimics, naturally and automatically model their parents behaviour.

Dr. Benjamin Spock R.D. US June 95 P. 167

To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own-this is happiness

J.B. Priestley R.D. US July 95 P. 161 

With just a few pleasant minutes a day, you can give your young son or daughter a priceless head start in life.

David M. Schwartz R,D. US July 95 P. 163

There is nothing more influential in a child's life than the moral power of a quiet example. For children to take morality seriously they must see adults take morality seriously.

William J. Bennett R.D. US Feb 96 P. 47 

"It's amazing when you're a kid how something can alter the direction of your life," says Michelle Pfeiffer. "I had a high school teacher who said one single thing to me: 'I think you have talent.' And I never forgot it, partly because while growing up, I got very few complements. Now, I didn't at the moment think, 'Oh I'll be an actress.' Still, I came to feel very confident in that world because of that single comment.

Michelle Pfeiffer R.D. US Feb 96 P. 125

Always tell your children as much of the truth as they can understand, if only to establish the most valuable attribute you have as a parent-your credibility. If you con your three-year old into believing that the booster shot wouldn't hurt, why should he or she believe your later claims that marijuana, booze and skipping school will?

Stan and Jan Berenstain R.D. US Mar. 96 P. 31

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