Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul: Stories of Love, Laughter and the Rewards of Parenting

What People Are Saying About
Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul...

Being a parent is lifes greatest privilege. Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul is a joy to read. I will treasure the personal stories and share them with my children and their children. What a lovely reminder of the miracle that is family.

Dr. Caren Kaye, Ph.D.
director of Parent Education,
Los Angeles Unified School District

Inspirational storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the earliest cave drawings. Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul provides a wonderful visionary guide, full of hope, wisdom and encouragement, to help anyone through the peaks and valleys of parenthood. A must-read.

Larry Shaw, Ph.D.
director of Family Counseling, Hollywood YMCA

Whether youre thinking of becoming a parent, new at parenting or your children have left the nest, Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul is for you. These stories are witty, funny, comforting, inspirational and helpful. There is something here for everyone.

Jennifer Chikato

Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul offers a kind of kitchen-table wisdom for mothers, fathers, grandparents and stepparents alike. It heals, consoles, nurtures, teaches and reminds us of what parenting is all about.

Terri Festa

Take an hour out of your busy life and sit down and read Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul. These stories are full of heart, life and lovethey will nourish you and revive your spirit! I couldnt put it down!

Sue Harvey

The stories in Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul show, again and again, that even when we are attending to the often mundane details of our childrens liveswhether it is a spinning plate, a Barney video or a pickle jarthe Big Love we have for them shines through in rainbows of color. It seems both beauty and love reside in the details. Throughout this book you will laugh and cry; you will reminisce and daydream; but most important, you will always feel at home.

Mike Riera
author of Field Guide to the American Teenager
and Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers

CHICKEN SOUP
FOR THE
PARENTS SOUL

Stories of Love, Laughter and
the Rewards of Parenting

Jack Canfield
Mark Victor Hansen
Kimberly Kirberger
Raymond Aaron

Backlist, LLC, a unit of

Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC

Cos Cob, CT

www.chickensoup.com

Contents

A. W. Cobb

Harriet Xanthakos

Elaine Decker

Robert Dixon as told to Zan Gaudioso

Alvin Abram

Lori Broadfoot

Laurin Broadbent

Gary Lautens

Beth Mullally

Rabona Gordon

Janie Emaus

Jewel Sanders

The Best of Bits & Pieces

Janie Emaus

Noreen Wyper

Josie Lauritsen

Eileen Goltz

Sheila Hammock Gosney

Gary Lautens

Beryl Paintin

Nicole Smith

Judy E. Carter

Robert Dixon as told to Zan Gaudioso

Sarah J. Vogt with Ron Vogt

D. L. Stewart

Beth Mullally

Judy E. Carter

Bob Mullen

Gary Lautens

Elizabeth Enns

Jan Meek with Daniel Byles as told to Janet Matthews

Nancy McBee

Janet Matthews with Dan Keenan

David Like

Lou Ogston

Mary Hiland

Cheryl Kierstead

Sharon Palmer

George Eyre Masters

Anne Metikosh

Bits & Pieces

Kittie Ellis

Brian Locke

Kathrine A. Barhydt

C. J. Herrmann

Louisa Godissart McQuillen

Dawn and Tim Johnson

Leo Buscaglia

Elizabeth Cobb

Susan Farr-Fahncke

Christie A. Hansen

William G. Wood

Margaret Hill

Andy Skidmore

Hanoch McCarty

Joe Tye

Cheryl Costello-Forshey

Wendy Ann Lowden

Bobbi Bisserier

Debbie Rikley

Marina Tennyson as told to Bill Holton

David Zinman

Lori Thomas as told to Darlene Montgomery

Sharon Peerless

Douglas Kramp as told to Darlene Montgomery

M. Schneider as told to Zan Gaudioso

Mary-Ann Joustra Borstad

Diane C. Nicholson

Christy Chappelear Andrews

Andrea Warren

Marguerite Annen

Chris Lloyd

Kevin Hann

Diane Tullson

Beverley Bolger Gordon

Doreen S. Austman

Raymond Aaron

Ellyn L. Geisel

Myrna Flood

David Zinman

Beth Mullally

Ruth Ayers

Bill Petch

Paula Mathers as told to Bill Holton

Barbara Bartocci

The relationship between parent and child is the deepest, most intense and richest in all our human experience. As we watch our children grow from babyhood to adulthood, we experience the full spectrum of emotions, from the heights of total elation to the depths of sorrow. Parenthood is complex and the experiences we have raising our children can be a mixed bag, both good and bad. Our goal in creating Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul is to inspire, uplift and honor parents everywhereto allow them to feel good about being parents and to help them know that during the difficult times, they are not alone.

Over the past two and a half years, we read more than five thousand stories to find the ones we present to you now. We were so amazed and touched by the depth of feelings and the range of experiences that people shared with us. We read stories about the joys of giving birth, the awe of being a new parent, and the struggles and complexities associated with being a family. People told us of their deep grief at the loss of a beloved child, and shared with us how they found the strength and courage to move on.