Life gets busy and messy. No matter how crazy our day- to- day life gets we need to make time for our family. Quality time is the time we need to make with each family member and each one of our children. It is up to us, as parents, to teach our children about love and what love is, how it feels, what it looks like, and how to love others. It is important that our kids learn these lessons at home before we send them off into the world. If our children understand love, they will love themselves, feel confident, love others, and question inappropriate actions by others.
The loving memories, thinking back to my own childhood, of sitting on the porch rocking in a rocking chair with dad and catching fireflies with mom. The help dad gave, carrying a table and chair to the top of the driveway, and mom helping make lemonade for my first lemonade stand. Those times where I sat and listened to those uncomfortable talks about sex, abuse, and peer pressure. Those are the memories that last and thrive much more than the memories of our what animals were in my stuffed animal collection or getting another plastic toy.
The first lesson in love should be to show our children what being loved feels like by our actions. To show our children we love them. Not the love we feel by buying or giving them things, fancy private school, or high tech toys. The love that is shared when spend time with our children, talking to them, teaching them, and talking about the hard stuff, listening to their stories, and the small things. Creating those memories that last a lifetime! Those memories, are the ones our kids will remember, that truly shows them love, how special they are, that we are here for you, you can count on us, you are loved, and you can tell us anything.
By teaching our children about love they will learn to love themselves and have self- confidence. They will question inappropriate actions by others and understand the different between what is love and what isn’t love. They will know how to make good decisions and know when to walk away. Our children will learn this from us, their parents and the times we spent together, our talks, and our difficult discussions. They will learn to use open communication. We will create and foster a positive and trusting environment for our children to come to us and talk to us about anything.
Our children will learn to talk about hard topics and learn how to listen and we will learn what life lessons we need to teach our kids as they grow. They will form healthy positive relationships. Our kids will know they can come to us with problems or questions and feel confident that we will listen. Quality time, talks, and difficult discussion start when our children are babies and continue to grow with them.
10 Ways to Show Love to our Children
- Unplug- turn off electronics.
- Truly listen to the stories. Sit with them make eye contact.
- Hugs & kisses them.
- Be present- when you’re with them be there to play, read, etc. don’t let phone or email get in the way.
- Saving their artwork & letters they write to you & show them you have it or where you hung it.
- Create notes & pictures for them in lunch box or under pillow.
- Tell them you love them & are proud of them.
- Make time for special one on one times to talk.
- Give them choices.
- Let them make some household decision Let them pick out things, help plan family outings, or pick where family is going out to eat or what’s for dinner.
How do you show your children you love them?
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A version of this post appeared on Huffington Post Parents.
LOVE this. Especially the unplugging. So so important! Pinned, tweeted, and shared on my FB page. <3
Thank you!
I couldn’t agree more with each of these… especially #1. We practice regular unplugging. It’s important to make that a habit and to use that time to better connect with each other.
Thank you! It is so important to make a habit of unplugging each day and not wait till vacation. Great point! Thanks for stopping by!
This is just so great Sarah! This speaks to me right now, as we have already finished our first week of summer! It’s been crazy busy, and I am really working on investing my TIME and ATTENTION with my kids this summer. This post adds more inspiration to my goal!
Thank you! I’m so glad. Enjoy your summer with those kiddos!
this is real stuff. stuff that can change lives. stuff that makes kids great teens and teens great adults. and, stuff that makes me long for the days when my kids were young.
Yes! Thanks for stopping by!
I read this earlier today and got right off my computer as per #1…..thanks for the reminders! sometimes is so hard to unplug. Your kids have one great mama!
Oh good! Glad you came back to finish the rest!
I am big on putting down the phone, it’s a rare thing for my son to sit down and want to talk, so I like to give him my full attention!
A few years ago I did take two boxes of his artwork from his childhood and scanned it in and turned it into a photo book, he actually really liked that!
Me too! My son is so busy when he stops for a second I embrace it and maybe get a cuddle out of it too! Thanks for stopping by!
Yes, unplugging!
Too often I see parents at the park with their kids but their faces stuck to their phones — even while at sporting events. Put them away!!
I used to write notes to my son every day and tuck them into his lunch box but the little turd asked me to stop writing them. I think another kid might of made fun of him for it.
That is so sweet! I put notes under my son’s pillow and he does the same to me. Thanks for stopping by!
Unplugging is SO important! It’s easy to get distracted and try to multitask, but unplugging and putting down the phone shows them how much you care about spending time with them. Sharing your list, it’s great!
Yes, so important! Thank you!
Great message Thanks love the autonomy in the list ..and truly is the simple things
Thank you! I agree.
Love these ideas and its so easy to get off track and forget about how all those little things are so important.
Yes they are! Thanks for stopping by!
I love the first one on your list about unplugging. This is why I love hiking and camping-because we are completely unplugged and present with our kids.
Thank you! Great activity.
Such a great list. Sometimes we overcomplicate parenting, when really, simple acts like being present and being thoughtful go SUCH a long way. Pinning this one!
Thank you! You are right we don’t need to overcomplicate parenting.
Great ideas! I think being present is so important like you said above. Putting down the phone when you are sitting down to play on the floor with your kids! I sometimes have a hard time with this, but I am trying to get better!
It’s those small moment your child will always remember. Getting on the floor and playing, engaging. Thanks for stopping by!