Prayer for Parents

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 as kindly and as honestly as I can.
Keep me from interrupting 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 and ridicule when they displease me.
May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction,
or to show my power, or 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 meanness in me.
And when I am out of sorts, help me Lord, to hold my tongue.
May I ever be mindful that my children are children, and I should not expect of them the judgement of adults.
Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions.
Bless me with the confidence to grant them all their reasonable requests
and the courage to deny them the privileges I know will do them harm.
Make me fair and just and kind.
And grant me, o Lord, a large portion of humor that I may enjoy these precious gifts
that you have entrusted to my care.
And with the graces of the Holy Spirit may I live so as to be loved and respected and imitated by my children.
Remind me also to have some fun with my children.
“The Family that prays together, stays together.”