On children

"Who else weeps out of the intense desire to be with us while we eat?
And how sadly we will say someday, 'Nobody cries now to have me near him while he falls asleep.'
Only a child says every night,
'Don't leave me; stay with me!'
and the adult answers,
'I can't, I have so much to do, and anyway, what kind of nonsense is this?'
and thinks the child must be corrected
or he will make everyone a slave of his love.

Sometimes a child wakes in the morning and goes to wake his parents,
who would rather sleep;
everyone complains about this kind of thing.
He slips from his bed,
approaches his parents and touches them lightly.
Most often they say,
'Don't wake me up in the morning!'
and the child responds,
'I didn't wake you up, I only kissed you.'"

-Maria Montessori