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Parental absence can occur due to unforeseen circumstances. Absent parenting refers to a parent’s emotional unavailability and lack of active involvement during the child’s formative years. This post brings you a collection of absent parent quotes to inspire you to become a better parent.
The absence of parents in a child’s life deeply impacts the child both emotionally and psychologically. Lack of parental support or abandonment of children due to various factors, like divorce or separation, can lead to mental and behavioral issues, such as stress, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Thus, one needs to be sensitive and responsive towards them and shower them with the love and affection they rightly deserve. Understand what your child seeks from you by reading these heart-touching quotes about absent parents, and become the parent your child can look up to.
91 Touching And Sad Quotes About Absent Parents
Understand what your child is seeking from you by reading these heart-touching quotes about absent parents, and become the parent that your child can look up to.
Absent Father’s Quotes
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Fathers play a key role in the overall development of a child. Here are some fabulous quotes about absent fathers that illustrate a child’s turmoil when a father is absent from their life.
- “When your father is not present, believe in yourself. “- Unknown
- “A father must be responsible towards his child.” – Unknown
- “It’s a sin if you are a father, but are not around to support your children . “- Unknown
- “An absent father needs to realize his child’s needs before it is very late ” – Unknown
- “ A real father is the one who raises his children well.” – Unknown
- “ It takes someone special to be a dad.” – Unknown
- “Fathers have a unique and irreplaceable role in the lives of children.”- George W. Bush
- “When a father, absent during the day, returns home at six, his children receive only his temperament, not his teaching.”- Robert Bly
- “Fathers, you are the head and strength of the family unit. If you are not in place, there is a weakness in the link.”- Anita R. Sneed-Carter
- “I can proudly say that I did it without you, Dad. And I don’t regret it.”- Unknown
- “Father take note! Children will always remember the man who treated them with love and affection! Don’t be an absent father!” – Abu Muawiyah Ismail Kamdar
- “ Children feel let down and becomes hopeless when parents leave them alone.” -Unknown
- “It is much easier to become a father than to be one.”-Kent Nerburn
- “You will never be enough for me. I know that now.”– Unknown
- “God is a father to the fatherless.”– Psalm 68
- “Though I know abandoning me is his loss, I know it will be mine too.”– Unknown
- “Am I that easy to forget? Do I really mean so little?”– Unknown
- “You never said sorry, not even once.”– Unknown
- “One of the hardest things to endure is to grieve the loss of a person who is alive.”– Unknown
- “They say time heals all wounds. But my heart is still broken.”– Unknown
- “A Father’s absence is a wound that never fully heals.” – Jesse Jackson
- “There is nothing worse than a father who raised his own child without love and empathy.”– Unknown
- “When a father is absent, a boy must become a man before he is ready.” – John Eldredge
- “You have never been a part of my life, yet you have been in it. I cannot decide which is worse.”– Unknown
- “The holidays come over more often than you do.”– Unknown
- “The best feeling is when you realize you are happy without the people you thought you needed the most.”– Unknown
- “I hate the way you made me question myself when the entire problem was you.”– Unknown
Absent Father Quotes From Daughter
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For a daughter, her father’s presence means everything. Check out these heart-wrenching quotes that highlight the absence of a father in a daughter’s life.
- “This is the cry of a fatherless daughter—the one with the hole in her heart, crying, wounded, searching or wandering, aching inside for an accepting touch or a word from Dad. Some fathers were physically absent. Some were present but absent emotionally.”- H. Norman Wright
- “Even though she is old enough she’s still missing her daddy.” – Unknown
- “A dad should be a daughter’s idol against which she will judge all men.” – Unknown
- “A father is the most special person in a daughter’s life, and the void formed through his loss cannot be filled.” —Unknown
- “Because my father was absent on naval duty, my mother suffered me to do as much as I pleased.”- John James Audubon
- “ Before any man had had the chance to break my heart, my father did ” – Unknown
- “ My dad left me one day without even saying goodbye. But I’m proud to say that I overcame the despair and heartache.” – Unknown
- “To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.”- Barbara Johnson
- “Nothing is as strong as the need for a father’s protection” – Unknown
- “A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman, he turns her back again.” – Enid Bagnold
- “Every woman is a princess to her father ” – Unknown
- “Part of my whole project from the beginning was to make an absent world present for my parents, which was India.”- Jhumpa Lahiri
- “By ignoring her and putting her through grief, you are actually teaching her to live without you.” – Unknown
- “Beneath every strong woman lies a girl who learned to depend on no one.”– Unknown
- “Exactly what are you wanting to teach your children? How to love and care for themselves, or how to neglect and abandon themselves? Self-sacrifice is NOT setting a good example.” – Miya Yamanouchi
- “I never had a father to tell me I was his princess.”– Unknown
- “His words didn’t tell me I wasn’t enough, his absence did.”– Cat Burnal
- “Dear Dad, You are the first man who broke my heart. Always remember that.”– Unknown
- “When I meet you I remember why I shouldn’t feel guilty for not being able to stand you.”– Unknown
- “I should know enough about the loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone – you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence.” – Alyson Noel
- “If she could put the hollow ache that haunts her words, she would tell him, ‘I miss the father you never were.’” – John Mark Green
- “You were in the wrong when you abandoned me. But yes, blame me for my daddy issues.”– Unknown
- “Abandonment issues stem not from the fear of someone leaving, but from the belief that someone leaving would be your fault.”– Shandel Stewart
- “You took me for granted, thinking I would always be here. But you waited for too long and now I do not need you anymore.”– Unknown
- “Do not think ill of the mother and say that she poisoned you against me. Your absence was the biggest poison.”– Unknown
Absent Father Quotes From Son
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Father is always the first hero for a son. Explore these amazing quotes to understand how challenging it’s for a son to grow up in the absence of his father.
- “One thing that prevents a man from being a good father is he hasn’t completed being a boy”- Iyanla Vanzant
- “You cannot expect a good son from a bad father .”- Unknown
- “If your children are important to you, you will always find a way. If not, you’ll always find an excuse.” – Unknown
- “Don’t forgive him. Forgive yourself for believing there is something lacking in you because he wasn’t there.” – Iyanla Vanzant
- “I realize that taking extra effort in contacting my father means nothing to him – that’s the reason we stopped talking.” – Unknown
- “Real dads are supportive ” – Unknown
- “It is a wise father that knows his own child.”- William Shakespeare
- “ Before it’s too late, an absent father should realize the needs of his child” – Unknown
- “The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.”- Benjamin Franklin
- “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano
- “You will regret the days you have missed. The missed birthdays and holidays were chances to watch us growing up. Now it is too late.”– Unknown
- “I am still healing from the pain of growing up with an absent and emotionally unavailable dad.”– Unknown
- “Hey Dad! I did it without you.”– Unknown
- “Clothes, cars, and money do not make a good father. Character, morality, honesty, and responsibility do.”– Unknown
- “Boys want to grow up to be like their male role models. And boys who grow up in homes with absent fathers search the hardest to figure out what it means to be male.”– Geoffrey Canada
- “There is no worse thing than a man who cannot be a father to his own son.”– Unknown
- “Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” – Barack Obama
- “I need you no more and I do not miss you. It is too late.” – Unknown
- “A boy will always make excuses and blame you for his mistakes. I am sorry to say that you are that boy, Dad.”– Unknown
- “Thank you for showing me why people can’t be trusted.”– Unknown
- “Being abandoned is one of the most devastating emotions we can cause in another human being.” – Unknown
- “The only worse thing than an absent dad is a mom who supports him.”– Unknown
Absent Mother Quotes
A mother nurtures the child from the day they are born, but her absence is extremely difficult to take and the child feels motherless. So be there for your kids when you need them and ensure they don’t have a regretful childhood. Here are some absent mom quotes that will highlight the importance of mothers in a child’s life.
- “A father may turn his back on his child, but a mother’s love endures through all.”- Washington Irving
- “A true Mother holds her child’s hearts forever” – Unknown
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- “Your mother is in the habit of offering more love than you can carry. Your father is absent. You are a war the border between two countries the collateral damage the paradox that joins the two but also splits them apart.” –Rupi Kaur
- “Your presence doesn’t matter if your absence doesn’t have any impact.“– Unknown
- “I don’t want to be an absent mother. Otherwise, why have children?” – Indira Varma
- “The absent are never without fault, nor the present without excuse.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “There is something absent in me, I thought. Something incomplete. Even my mother couldn’t describe me. There was something empty in me that in other people was full.” – Julie Schumacher
- “To feel that you aren’t important to your mother leaves a hole. Most often it is felt as a hole in the heart. It’s the hole where Mother was supposed to be.”- Jasmin Lee Cori
- “Emotional damage is never easy to measure, but mothers who are alive but psychically absent impose filial burdens which knot their children’s feelings in a way biologic orphans are spared.” – Eileen Simpson
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- “You make sacrifices for your children so they can enjoy the life they deserve.” –Unknown
- “Don’t play victim to the circumstances you created yourself.”– Unknown
- “Growing up with a single dad is so much better than waiting for a mom who never cared.”– Unknown
- “A real mother is someone who puts their child’s wants above hers.”– Unknown
- “Your mother failed to show you the affection you needed, and no matter how hard you tried to elicit affectionate responses, she let you down. So, it can be very hard to open yourself up to accepting the idea that others might care for you. After all, what if you are wrong?”– J.L. Anderson
- “It is not my responsibility to build a relationship that I didn’t break with my mother.”– Unknown
- “A mother abandoning you is the most shameful and demeaning thing that can happen in a child’s life.”– Unknown
- “I forgive you, mom, but my life is much healthier and better without you in it.”– Unknown
- “You made a choice but I suffered for it. I may forgive you for it but I can never forget.”– Unknown
- “Giving birth makes you a mother. But raising a child makes you a mom. You became a mother but could never become a mom.” – Unknown
- “Someday you will wish you were a better woman, a better mother.”– Unknown
Illustration: Touching And Sad Quotes About Absent Parents
Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What should I say to someone who has an absent father?
Having an absent father can make a child feel fatherless throughout childhood. Words are not enough to describe the emptiness and sorrow they feel. Nevertheless, you may try sending “missing you, Dad” quotes to console them or help them cope with the absence.
2. What are the effects of absent parents?
The absence of parents in a child’s life impacts their psychological aspects and academic performance. A child without parental support is also less likely to be interested in attending college and in interacting with people. Jannelle Sanchez, a mother, writer, and blogger reflects on how she felt growing up with an absent dad. She says, ”When my dad called to say Merry Christmas, it used to feel like enough; now it was a cheap replacement. And a father who showed up on birthdays but not for Easter egg hunts — even though he said he would — did not feel fine. It felt disappointing. Comparison is the thief of joy, and seeing dads everywhere made me miss mine — or, at least, the idea of mine… The shame of not having a dad around, and a family that felt so different, so lacking, remained… For the rest of elementary school, I dreaded hearing the question, ‘So, where’s your dad?’ from playmates who came over. It was worse when their parents asked because every time I mumbled, ‘My parents are divorced,’ I’d notice their eyes flicker, and how they’d quickly change the subject, which only fueled my new narrative that single parent families are deficient (i).”
3. What is an absent parent called?
An absent parent (someone who has very little or no contact with their child) could sometimes be also referred to as an estranged parent.
4. How can I cope with the feelings of having an absent parent?
Coping with the feelings of having an absent parent can be challenging, but it’s important to focus on self-care and emotional growth. Know that it’s okay to feel sad or frustrated. Build a support system of friends, family, or mentors who provide the love and guidance you’re missing, and express your feelings through journaling or art or talk to a therapist. While you can’t change the past, you can create a fulfilling and supportive future for yourself.
If you are someone who has experienced neglect in your childhood, felt a void, and suffered alone without parental support, a guardian figure, and care, you can relate to these absent parent quotes and find solace in them. It is never too late to make peace with your past and embrace your present. Express your love to your children through words and actions and be the type of parent you wanted to have. Share these quotes with your children and fulfill your role as a parent.
Infographic: Heart-melting Quotes About Absent Parents
Whether by choice or unavoidable circumstances, the absence of a parent/s from a child’s life often affects a child’s life. Our infographic brings more heart-melting quotes about absent fathers and mothers. These moving quotes highlight the importance of a parent and the value of a parent-child bond. Illustration: Momjunction Design Team
Key Pointers
- Quotes about absent parents convey the pain and emotional turmoil of children who grow up feeling neglected and unloved.
- Absent parents are emotionally unavailable and are uninvolved in the upbringing of their kids, which scars their children’s minds deeply.
- Reading and sharing quotes about absent parents can help people feel a sense of closure and reassurance that they are not alone.
- Children of absent parents often struggle with anxiety, depression, and abandonment issues; reading these quotes can help bring comfort.
- If you or your partner is an absent parent, reading these quotes may help you relate to your child’s pain and become more sensitive.
Get ready to be moved and inspired by these powerful words! Here are some quotes about absent fathers.
Personal Experience: Source
MomJunction articles include first-hand experiences to provide you with better insights through real-life narratives. Here are the sources of personal accounts referenced in this article.
i. How I learned to understand my absent dad;https://cupofjo.com/2022/11/14/growing-up-with-absent-father/
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