Elizabeth Stone - Making the decision to have a child – it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

the Daily Quote

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Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, for August 11th.

Today is National Son and Daughter Day, and if you're a parent, you know that every day is kind of your kids' day anyway – but today makes it official.

This heartwarming holiday encourages parents to take extra time to appreciate the incredible gift of being someone's mom or dad. National Son and Daughter Day celebrates that unique, irreplaceable bond between parents and children – whether your kids are toddlers who think you're a superhero, teenagers who think you know absolutely nothing, or adults who've come full circle and realize you might actually know a thing or two.

It's a day to set aside the daily routines, the nagging about homework and chores, the rushing from one activity to another, and just focus on the pure joy of watching these amazing little humans – or not so little humans – that you helped bring into the world, grow and become themselves.

The beautiful thing about this day is it reminds us that being a parent isn't just about providing, protecting, and problem-solving. It's also about celebrating who your children are right now, in this moment, exactly as they are.Which brings us to today's quote from writer Elizabeth Stone, who perfectly captured the essence of parenthood when she said:

"Making the decision to have a child – it is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Stone captured something that's impossible to explain to people who don't have children – that profound shift that happens the moment you become responsible for another human being's wellbeing and happiness.

When they're little, it's obvious – you feel their scraped knees like they're your own, you beam with pride at their first steps, their first words. But it doesn't stop there. When they're grown, you still worry when they're late getting home. You still celebrate their victories like they're your own. You still want to fix their problems, even when you know they need to fix them themselves.

That's the beautiful vulnerability of parenthood – loving someone so much that their wellbeing becomes more important than your own comfort, your own safety, sometimes even your own happiness.

So today, whether your sons and daughters are 5 or 50, take a moment to tell them how proud you are of who they are – not just what they've accomplished, but who they are as human beings. Share a memory, listen to their dreams, or just spend some unstructured time together.

Because Elizabeth Stone was right – they are your heart walking around outside your body. And that's not a burden – it's one of life's greatest privileges.I'm on my own for a few weeks as the kids are on vacation visiting family in Europe. I'll be seeing them on a video call today but it isn't the same as getting a hug in person. And I can tell our dog misses them too.

The house is oddly quite without them yelling, fighting and laughing and suddenly the cats really like me... which is weird.That's going to do it for today. May your heart be full of gratitude for the amazing humans you get to call your children.

I'm Andrew McGivern, signing off for now, but I'll be back tomorrow – same pod time, same pod station – with another Daily Quote.

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