The Top 10 Ways to Make Your Child Feel Loved
Over the course of 16 years, parenting expert Erin Kurt worked as a teacher for thousands of children in 5 different countries. And every country where she taught, she asked her young students to write down the answer to a question that fascinated her:
“What does your mother do that makes you feel the most happy and loved?”
Here are the 10 most popular answers she received from those thousands of children:
1. Sing me a song and tuck me in before I go to bed. Tell me a story about when you were a child.
2. Hug and kiss me and talk with me all on my own.
3. Spend alone-time with just me. Without any other siblings around.
4. Feed me healthy food so I will grow up big and strong.
5. Over supper discuss fun things we could do over the weekend
6. In the evening talk with me about life: school, friends, sports, etc.
7. Allow me to play outside a lot.
8. Sit close to me and put your arm around me when we watch a favorite video together.
9. Use discipline with me. That makes me know you love me.
10. Write notes for me and hide them in my lunch for school.
What really blew me away about this list is that none of these yearned-for parental expressions of love costs a cent or even requires leaving our homes…
What our kids want most, it turns out, is not expensive trips and vacations and toys.
Deep down, what our kids yearn for the most is US. Our attention, our love, right here, within these 4 walls.
Special thanks to Jerusalem JewishMOM Hadas Melamed for sending me the link to Erin Kurt’s article.
