This book is one that I have on hold at the library. As described by the New York Times:
Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, has attempted to distill a lifetime of parental advice for his children because he knows he won’t be around to deliver it in person. The result is “The Last Lecture,'’ an inspirational new book that outlines Dr. Pausch’s ideas for achieving one’s childhood dreams.
The book is based on the last lecture he gave his students and the video that has since become an inspiring sensation.{ See here } You can learn more about Randy Pausch and his story here on his journal. Really, an incredibly inspiring man - guided by what I can only describe as the most pure, distilled love for his family, living his life with so much grace.
A few weeks back, the Times held a contest and invited readers to share their best parental advice, either given or received. The responses, all 496,{HERE} were interesting to read through:
I remember muttering a quote from Kurt Vonnegut while holding my newborn boy 30 years ago:
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”
I also like this:
In trying to teach our two kids that they should ALWAYS do the job right (whatever the job is), we ask them to consider this: if you “don’t have time” to do the job right the first time, how are you going to have time to do it over again (which you will almost certainly have to do)?
You can read a summary of the responses as well as the contest-winning nuggets of wisdom HERE. This is not one of the winners, but it is my favorite - so true:
“You will always be an amateur parent with professional children.”
What is the best advice {parenting or otherwise} that you have received {or have given}?
