Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works for its living,
And a child that's born on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise and good and gay.
(Mother Goose (fl. 17th-18th century. Monday's child is fair of face (l. 1-8). . .
Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, The. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, comps. (1955) Oxford University Press.)
Monday's child is fair in face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for its living;
And a child that is born on a Christmas day,
Is fair and wise, good and gay.
(Anonymous. Quoted in Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire, vol. 2, ed. Anna E.K.S. Bray (1838).
The penultimate line commonly refers to "the Sabbath day.")
Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child's world and thus a world event.
(Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962), French scientist, philosopher, literary theorist. "The Phoenix, a Linguistic Phenomenon," ch. 1, Fragments of a Poetics of Fire (1988, trans. 1990).)
Borrow a child and get on welfare.
Borrow a child and stay in the house all day with the child,
or go to the public park with the child, and take the child
to the welfare office and cry and say your man left you and
be humble and wear your dress and your smile, and don't talk
back ...
(Susan Griffin (b. 1943), U.S. author and feminist. "An Answer to a Man's Question, 'What Can I Do About Women's Liberation?'," Lines 28-33 (c. 1970).)
The relationship between mother and professional has not been a partnership in which both work together on behalf of the child, in which the expert helps the mother achieve her own goals for her child. Instead, professionals often behave as if they alone are advocates for the child; as if they are the guardians of the child's needs; as if the mother left to her own devices will surely damage the child and only the professional can rescue him.
(Elaine Heffner (20th century), U.S. psychiatrist and author. Mothering, ch. 2 (1978).)
The colicky baby who becomes calm, the quiet infant who throws temper tantrums at two, the wild child at four who becomes serious and studious at six all seem to surprise their parents. It is difficult to let go of one's image of a child, say goodbye to the child a parent knows, and get accustomed to this slightly new child inhabiting the known child's body.
(Ellen Galinsky (20th century), U.S. author and researcher. Between Generations, ch. 5 (1981).)
Being in a family is like being in a play. Each birth order position is like a different part in a play, with distinct and separate characteristics for each part. Therefore, if one sibling has already filled a part, such as the good child, other siblings may feel they have to find other parts to play, such as rebellious child, academic child, athletic child, social child, and so on.
(Jane Nelson (20th century), U.S. marriage, family and child therapist. Positive Discipline, ch. 3 (1981).)