Different ways of saying "I LOVE YOU!"

My favourite quote about love is by Greg Behrendt and it reads 'I believe in love the verb, not the noun.' Indeed, to feel loved by someone, while the words 'I love you' are persuasive, their actions towards us that demonstrate that love is always more powerful. 

Our children are often craving connection with us and long to know that we love them. Sometimes, the events of life get in the way and we are too busy and while we may still utter the words "I love you" to our children each day, those words feel rather empty as we are too busy to show it, apart from ofcourse ensuring we meet their daily needs. 

Here are 4 actions you can take to ensure that your child still feels the power of the words 'I love you', through some practical steps that you can easily take:

1. Have post-it-notes handy with you all the time and write them a letter/note telling them how you have missed them and can't wait to get a much more flexible schedule to connect on an activity that you love. You can also write an affirmation word for them on the note and stick it in their bed or somewhere in their room that they are bound to find it. Always works like magic in making them feel special. I do that for my daughter and to date, she has them stuck up in her reading space, 2 years later. 
2. Everyone always has that favourite meal that is assigned their name from your special family recipes.  Endeavour to squeeze in time to make that special meal that makes them feel special. If time is absolutely not in your favour, you can treat them to a version of that meal from a restaurant, as a night in meal, just to let them know you remember and still cherish what they love. Remember, where siblings are more than one to do this interchangeably so as not to look like you have a favourite child. 
3. One of the aspects of love as an action word, is the act of listening. Whenever you have conflicts with your children, take the opportunity to listen to their perspective once the heated feelings of anger and moments of dysregulation are over. A lot of times, you will find that miscommunication is at the forefront of the conflict and you can then set expectations and boundaries as to how to approach a similar event in the future. 
4. Create exciting date night rituals that the children will remember and talk about for years on end with you. It could be Friday movie night; game night with different board games taking centre stage; it could be family meetings where as a family certain topics of discussion are brought up like family values and together you propose activities that can be done to promote those values. 

Remember, love is an action word and simple actions go a long way at creating connections with our children and making them feel loved. 

If you are a parent with children between 5-18 years who are struggling to thrive academically & emotionally, book a free call with me to see how I can help you , help your child thrive without stress build-up & overwhelm. 

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