"For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians; your mother commands me, and you command your mother."
-- Themistocles (allegedly) to his son
Relevant reading on how you're a tool when your child is crying.
"When the love object is one's child, natural or adopted, one protects it. The protector will risk his life for his dependent, will want only the best for him-her, will assure him-her of his love. To lose the 'child' means great unhappiness. It means to have lost 'the thing I loved most in all the world.'"
And later,
"children (objects of protection) — they have power over their protectors, the men and women who care for them"
