For months, my parents had been trying to prepare me for the arrival of a real sibling. They had given me a doll to play with and encouraged me to take care of her. And when the baby, a little boy they named Rahm, finally arrived, they encouraged me to help take care of him, too.

I've been very lucky early on to be surrounded when I was a child by music from various countries. My parents would listen to a lot of music coming from other universes.

I have a shallow understanding of what it means to be alive, and I know certain things about parenting and being a wife and doing the school run. I know little bits, but I'm really a paddler on a beach.

My parents are Irish, my grandparents are Irish, my great-grandparents are Irish. I was born in England; my blood is Irish.

My parents would never put too much hype into anything. They're very proud of me, but they're Queensland people. They're just glad that I have a job.

I lived on the farm with my parents and grandparents. I had no playmates as a young child, and I was indulged. I helped my grandmother piece quilts, and we made pretty albums, an old-fashioned pastime. We cut poems and pictures out of magazines.

When I was little, my parents took away candy except on the weekends. So I'd rush out of my room at 5:00 A.M. on Saturday and sit in front of the TV, jamming my face with candy.

My parents had to work hard, and I was always looking for a way to make it big - for their sakes as well as my own.

My parents knew there was no point in pushing the football thing. I hated the boots.

All parents gush about what it's like to be a parent. I love it.

My parents met during their time at Cal Berkeley while they were both on the gymnastics team. Due to their intense gymnastics background, I started doing 'Mommy and Me' classes when I was 2 years old.

My parents said marrying was an optimistic thing to do in pessimistic times.

My parents are proud of me now. However, when I first became involved with rock music, they were afraid.

'Entrepreneur' is a long, fancy French word, but it didn't seem like something you aspire to. It seemed normal, because whatever your parents do seems normal.

My parents gave up things for me when I was growing up.

A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.

To any child, the first occupations that are presented to you are your parents'. I was appealed to my dad's occupation from the get-go.

I went on countless auditions. I begged my parents until I finally was allowed to be in a theatrical play when I was 13. It was the most important thing in my life.

Don't let your parents telling you that you shouldn't do something stop you from doing it.

I was a bit of a delinquent growing up, a very poor student - I nearly failed several grades before dropping out of high school and getting a G.E.D. But I still read a lot. Thrillers and war novels, mostly, along with the occasional literary novel from my parents' bookshelf.