The Parent's Prayer by Garry Cleveland Myers "O, Master, make me a better parent. "Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all 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 them for forgiveness, when I know that I have done them a wrong. "May I not 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 to 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 to hold my tongue. "Blind me to the little errors of my children and help me see the good things that they do. Give me a ready word for honest praise. "Help me to grow up with my children, to treat them as would those of their own age; but let me not 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. "With all Thy gifts, O great Master, give me calm, poise and self-control."