Are you wondering how to show your kids you love them in a quick, easy way? Sometimes, we really don’t have a lot of time to shower our kids with love and affection. And this can make it hard to show them just how much we love them every day.
Especially in the morning, as we race about trying to get the kids off to school and then head out the door ourselves.
It’s at times like these that we wish we had a quick and easy way to show our kids how much we love them, before sending them off into the world.
I remember those hectic mornings all too well. I worked out of the house at the time. And those frantic mornings often ended in anger and frustration.
My son would leave the house mad; fighting back tears. He couldn’t ever let his friends on the bus see him that way.
I would watch him traipse through the snow, blinking back tears myself. Our day was ruined. Always.
How could I send him off to school like that? He couldn’t start his day mad!
I didn’t want him to go to school thinking that his momma didn’t love him.
I knew how important his morning was – how his morning at home would set him up for the rest of his day at school.
And yet I screamed at him. In a moment of frustration, I let my little boy have it.
I desperately needed to let him know that I loved him. He needed to know I was sorry. And as I watched him get on that bus, I knew I needed to make it right.
The demands on a parent can be excruciating
We want to be the best parents we can be. We want to give our children everything – most of all, our love.
But we have careers, and we have mortgages. There are responsibilities we have to tend to.
And we need to get to work on time.
But when we let these demands and responsibilities dictate our priorities in the day, it is often our children who suffer the repercussions.
We can’t let our responsibilities go – our job is one way we care for our children, after all.
So how, then, can we show love to them every single day – even on days that we don’t see them?
Sometimes, all it takes is five minutes.
That’s right!
We can still show our kids how much we love them, even when we don’t have time to set aside an hour to play.
Every day.
How to show your kids you love them in five minutes or less
1. Embrace technology
If your kids have some form of electronic communication, then use it! Text them, Facetime them, Snap them, message them, or call them.
But if you can’t be together at any point in the day, reach out to them on one of their favorite mediums – with technology. Just find a way to let them know that you are thinking about them.
2. Be present in the moment
If you do get to see them during the day, focus completely on them. Be fully present in the moment that you have with your kids.
Don’t be thinking about work or the bills that are due.
Pay attention to your children. Remove yourself from any outside distractions. Make eye contact while you listen to their conversation.
Paraphrase and repeat back to them what you heard them say. Ask open-ended questions (questions that they cannot answer with a simple yes or no).
3. Use the natural rhythms of the day
There are certain points in the day when you are bound to bump into your kids, no matter how busy you are! Use these.
Key times to show your children love and affection are in the mornings, the evenings, and during meals. Use these times to your advantage.
Any meal you can spend together is an obvious choice.
But it is also good to tell your child good morning and wish your child a wonderful day when you part. Ask your child how his day was when you are together again in the evening.
And always tell your child goodnight. Starting and ending the day with your child sends the message that he is the most important person in your life.
4. Practice affection
Everyone needs to be touched; even teenagers. Snuggling up with a toddler or preschooler is second nature to most parents, but affection doesn’t always flow so easily with older kids.
All it takes is a pat on the shoulder or a squeeze on the arm as you walk by.
Try ruffling some hair or giving a playful punch. For kids who don’t *shudder* at the touch of mom and dad, dole out hugs and kisses often.
5. Smile often
Let your face show your kids how much they mean to you!
Be sure to smile at them when you see them.
Laugh when they tell a joke. Look sad when they share something that is hurting them.
Our faces and body language can often get the message across even if our words fail us. Let yours mirror your heart. Your kids will notice.
Once in a while, go out of your way to make time for your kids
If you have time in your day (or maybe you can even take an hour or two off from work), do something special with your kids.
One of my favorite things to do with my older boys is to take them for lunch during the school day. Especially if they are not a sophomore yet.
The sophomores, juniors, and seniors have an open campus; the underclassmen do not.
So, I loved the looks of envy my son received when I would excuse him from school for a yummy lunch uptown with me. Take your kid for lunch on a day when something yucky is being served and you just scored brownie points!
When you make time to be with your children, it can really drive home the message that they are important – more important than your adult responsibilities.
Kids of all ages love one-on-one time with their parents, even teenagers.
The key is to do something that they enjoy; don’t force the things you enjoy on them.
It only takes five minutes to show our kids how much we love them
Taking time specifically for our kids seems to be a luxury in today’s world.
As we rush from here to there, trying to get everything done before the end of the day, our kids are frequently lost in the shuffle. Oftentimes, this just cannot be helped.
But we don’t have to sacrifice quality for quantity. Just because we don’t have huge chunks of time with our kids on a daily basis does not mean that we have to squander the time we do have.
It only takes five minutes to let our kids know how much we love them.
What about you? Do you have a quick and easy way of showing your kids just how much you love them? Share it in the comments below!
