As a parent, it can feel like you are continually making mistakes and not being “good enough.” All parents have been there, and it’s not uncommon to feel that way! However, as frustrating raising a toddler can be, nothing brings more joy to a parent’s heart than watching their little ones learn and grow.

Toddlers especially bring significant challenges to our lives, and it can often feel like you make one step of progress and two steps back. If you are feeling this way, here are fifty quotes about parenting toddlers to bring a smile to your face!

Fifty Quotes That Only the Parents of Toddlers Will Get

1. “Having children is like living in a frat house – nobody sleeps, everything’s broken, and there’s a lot of throwing up.” – Ray Romano

2. “If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” – Milton Berle

3. “A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don’t have a top for it.” -Jerry Seinfeld

4. “When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” – Erma Bombeck

5. “My kid is turning out just like me. Well played, karma. Well-played.” – Anonymous

6. “Mom Pro Tip: If you’re old enough to critique what I put in your lunch, you’re old enough to make it yourself.” – Anonymous

7. “I love when my kids tell me they’re bored. As if the lady standing in front of a full sink of dirty dishes is where you go to get ideas about how to have a good time.” – Anonymous

“I’d love to be a Pinterest mom. But it turns out I’m more of an Amazon Prime mom.” – Unknown

9. “Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.” – Phyllis Diller

10. “And then I thought to myself, What’s the point of cleaning if my family is going to keep living here?” – Anonymous

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11. “You can be a mess and still be a good mom. We are allowed to be both.” – Katie Bingham Smith

12. “The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.” – Lane Olinghouse

13. “The easiest way to shop with kids is not to.” – Unknown

14. “Parenting is yelling ‘you just had a snack!’ over and over until you give in and throw them another snack.” – Unknown

15. “My mom voice is so scary, even the neighbors brush their teeth and put their shoes on!” – Unknown

“Being a mom means having an address book filled with names like ‘Jenny Jacob’s Mom.'” – Unknown

17. “Toddlers: Take 10 minutes to put on shoes but can download 3 apps, take 42 selfies, and change the language of your phone to Spanish in 20 seconds.” – Unknown

18. “‘Hi, I’d like to return this.’ ‘Is it damaged or broken?’ ‘No, its just annoying.’ *hands toddler over*” – Unknown

19. “Me: *Falls down a flight of stairs*, Toddlers: ‘Mommy can I have a snack?'” – Anonymous

20. “You is tired, you is in leggings, you is drinking cold coffee. You is a Mama.” – Unknown

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21. “No matter how big and bad you are, when toddlers hand you a toy phone, you answer it.” – Unknown

22. “I just had to apologize to a toy shark and kiss a toy fire engine goodnight…parenthood is weirder than I thought it would be.” – Unknown

23. “One minute you’re a horse and the next minute you’re a ballerina. Being a parent can make you do strange things… especially when it’s bedtime. But somehow the little ones just have a way with you.” – Bijou Playpen

24. “Cuddling seems like it should be a super-sweet family activity, but with a toddler it’s more like guarding your ribs from a professional kick boxer. How can someone so small take up an entire king size bed?” – @sarahjessica710 on Instagram

“Toddlers are surprisingly fast for their size. Between lifting and chasing a mischievous toddler, it’s basically a free gym membership– or one that you have to feed and change.” – Unknown

26. “Every toddler suddenly becomes busier than a CEO when it’s time for bed. First we need a bathroom break, then a snack, then a story, and so much more. How can they be so awake when you’re so tired?” – @sleepymumsvillage on Instagram

27. “Toddlers are truly just designers at heart, so don’t let the paint splatters, wall art, and cookie crumbs get you down. A little chaos is actually just creativity if you have the right attitude.” – @mylittlefarmerusa on Instagram

28. “Forget the stunt double. Toddlers can manage get into every dangerous corner of the house in the blink of an eye.” – @cluelessmamad on Instagram

29. “A little peace and quiet seemed nice until you found a ketchup and mustard mural on the wall. Any seasoned parent knows silence is actually an omen for mischief.” – Unknown

30. “It’s important to let kids do things on their own, but watching a two-year-old struggle with a zipper is the stuff of nightmares. Double that if you’re running late.” – @inspiredbyjaiamber on Instagram

“When you have brought up toddlers, there are memories you store directly in your tear ducts.” – Robert Brault

32. “You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” – Franklin P. Jones

33. “Children are a great comfort to us in our old age, and they help us reach it faster too.” – John Ruskin

34. “The reason I love toddlers so much is because they’re so honest, so you know right away if they like you or they don’t.” – Colin Egglesfield

35. “I love toddlers, but they are a tough audience.” – Robin Williams

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36. “I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms, allow them to take the subway… let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.” – Joybell C.

37. “Toddlers are always more trouble than you thought and more wonderful.” – Charles Osgood

38. “No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.” – Emma Goldman

39. “There’s nothing more contagious than the laughter of toddlers; it doesn’t even have to matter what they’re laughing about.” – Criss Jami

40. “A child enters your home and for the next 20 or so years makes so much noise you can hardly stand it. Then the child departs, leaving the house so silent you think you are going mad.” – John Andrew Holmes

“You don’t know what unconditional love is. You may say you do, but if you don’t have a child, you don’t know what that is. But when you experience it, it is the most fulfilling ever.” – Regina King

42. “The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children, the more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all.” – Benjamin Spock

43. “What it’s like to be a parent: It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love.” – Nicholas Sparks

44. “Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.” – Isabel Allende

45. “Before I had my child, I thought I knew all the boundaries of myself, that I understood the limits of my heart. It’s extraordinary to have all those limits thrown out, to realize your love is inexhaustible.” – Uma Thurman

parenting tips
Therapist explains how to make pareting more joyful.

46. “Toddlers will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for.” – Unknown

47. “Having children is a life-changer. It gives you a whole other perspective on why you wake up every day.” – Taylor Hanson

48. “I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.” – Charles Dickens

49. “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” – John Bowring

50. “Stop trying to perfect your children, but keep trying to perfect your relationship with them.” – Dr. Henker