--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That’s rule number one in the parenting…" description: "\"“That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t kill your children.”\" — Pete Sortwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg" --- # That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t… ![“That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t kill your children.” quote by Pete Sortwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg) > ““That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t kill your children.”” Pete Sortwell ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A joke stating the absurdity of harming children, emphasizing they are off‑limits. **In simple terms:** Don’t kill children; it’s a ridiculous rule. Key Takeaway Protect children. Themes parenting ethics humor protectiveness Mood lighthearted serious Type Children:1 Parenting:1 Rule:0 Kill Children:0 Parenting Handbook:0 Number Parenting:0 When to use this quote - home - public policy - education Key Concepts child welfare family values Questions to Reflect On - Why is protecting children fundamental? - How do jokes affect moral perception? A Different Perspective Humor can mask serious moral stances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [It sends out a very clear message: "Mess with us and we'll do something worse than kill you. We'll kill your children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-sends-out-a-very-clear-message-mess-with-us-and-we-ll-do-something/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [I am not talking about the American people and the British people, I am talking about those mercenaries. ... They have started throwing those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/i-am-not-talking-about-the-american-people-and-the-british-people-i/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [“These children are our future. We were children once. All of us were. Bad bloods are an evolution. They are a mutation, not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-a-thompson-2/these-children-are-our-future-we-were-children-once-all-of-us-were/) Shannon A Thompson > [The first law of humanity is not to kill your children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-joachim-schellnhuber/the-first-law-of-humanity-is-not-to-kill-your-children/) [Hans Joachim Schellnhuber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-joachim-schellnhuber/) > [We struggle to understand how any mother could kill her own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-brown/we-struggle-to-understand-how-any-mother-could-kill-her-own-children/) [Pat Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-brown/) > [Last but not least among serial killer methodologies, we have women who kill their own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-brown/last-but-not-least-among-serial-killer-methodologies-we-have-women/) [Pat Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-brown/) > [We can forgive you for killing our children, but we can never forgive you for making us kill your children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golda-meir/we-can-forgive-you-for-killing-our-children-but-we-can-never-forgive/) [Golda Meir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golda-meir/) > [My understanding, I was not standing nearby, but my understanding is that President Xi Jinping said, "Well, no one should kill children." The Chinese…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-w-tillerson/my-understanding-i-was-not-standing-nearby-but-my-understanding-is/) [Rex W. Tillerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-w-tillerson/) > [I wanted to work on this central problem of killing. How you go about killing. Now, in the film I had to kill my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-burstyn/i-wanted-to-work-on-this-central-problem-of-killing-how-you-go-about/) [Ellen Burstyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-burstyn/) > [WHATEVER YOU DO HATERS DON'T KILL MY CHILDREN FOR ME! JUST LOVE THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE I BEG!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chill-sauce-ktn/whatever-you-do-haters-don-t-kill-my-children-for-me-just-love-them/) [CHILL SAUCE KTN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chill-sauce-ktn/) > [“Daddy, why did God kill all those children?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-haward/daddy-why-did-god-kill-all-those-children/) Joseph Haward > [ To kill \[children in the womb\] makes us all the poorer, insensitive, calloused and jaded. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-brownback/to-kill-children-in-the-womb-makes-us-all-the-poorer-insensitive/) [Sam Brownback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-brownback/) > [Having to delete songs for making room in your iPod is like having to kill some of your children because you can't feed them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/having-to-delete-songs-for-making-room-in-your-ipod-is-like-having-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Coincidence is the exception, not the rule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soheir-khashoggi/coincidence-is-the-exception-not-the-rule/) [Soheir Khashoggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soheir-khashoggi/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) ## More by Pete Sortwell > [“A sturdy hold, but I think there's something up with the material.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sortwell/a-sturdy-hold-but-i-think-there-s-something-up-with-the-material/) Pete Sortwell Explore all 2 Pete Sortwell quotes ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) [Browse all 62,396 Children quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t kill your children.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Sortwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sortwell/that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting-handbook-don-t-kill-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sortwell/that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting-handbook-don-t-kill-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d32/pete-sortwell-96235_children_that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting_251517.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That’s rule number one in the parenting handbook: don’t kill your children.” — Pete Sortwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pete Sortwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sortwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“That’s rule number one in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sortwell/that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting-handbook-don-t-kill-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sortwell/that-s-rule-number-one-in-the-parenting-handbook-don-t-kill-your/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```