10 Ways to Show Your Children Love

Good Morning

How do you wake your children up?Do you stumble bleary-eyed into the kitchen and point them to the cereal? How about instead waking them up with a cheerful good morning in a happy voice. Or even with a good morning song. I love Wake Up you Sleepyhead by Rappin Rabbit. Make sure they know you’re glad to see them.

Say I Love You

Even your teens need to hear this. And the prickly one who doesn’t want to be close to you, they need to hear it more than most. Tell them I love you frequently.

Encourage Them

Encourage them every day. I heard from Nancy Cambell at Above Rubies to make a chart and put a check mark each day when you encouraged them. That way you didn’t forget. And let’s face it, even Mom’s need a reminder sometimes.

Model Good Behavior

There’s a saying more is caught than taught for a reason. Because children follow in our footsteps and copy us. Are you modeling what you want your child to copy?

Feed Them Healthy Food

Make family mealtimes a priority. Have healthy meals for them so they will grow up liking to eat salads and vegetables. We’ve always had a garden, even in an apartment. And the children will want to et what they grow. That goes for cooking too. Your child will develop an appetite for what you feed them so if you want them to grow up with a love for wholesome foods, serve them instead of chips and soda.

Treat them as an Individual

None of my 10 children are the same. As a matter of fact, people are surprised at how diverse they actually are. Each child has a special purpose made by God that is different than any other. Your job as a parent is to discover what that is and give them the resources to develop that talent. Each child is different in how they respond to ways of discipline, encouragement and they all have different gifts and love languages. For instance, one child is sent to his room as a punishment. I have another child who tried to get sent to her room because she liked being sent to her room. So we had to find a different method for her.

Look, Listen and Touch

Please put the cell phone down and look at your child while they are talking. Really listen to them. I know sometimes I hear the same story over and over but it’s important to them. I have trouble too sometimes. Look them in the eye. Touch is important too. A hand on their shoulder while your talking, a hug. As our children get older, we forget they need to be touched too.

Spend Time One on One

Make time to spend one on one with your children. They need to be valued as an individual not just as a group. This morning my son and I got up early and went to Walmart. Another time might be doing nails with my daughter or going out. When we had 8 children at home we used to rotate errands and grocery shopping with one of them. There are times you will seek them out, times they would rather withdraw. These are the times that they need you most. Even if they don’t think so.

Make Home a Happy Place to Be

Make home a great place to come home to. Make their friends welcome. Be happy and smile. Smiles are contagious you know. There’s another saying “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t’ nobody happy.” Are you a happy mom? Can other people tell it? I love being a mother. People always guess my age as younger than I am and I tell them “My children keep me young.” Do you have a home they want to come home to?

Pray with Them

I know you pray for them, I know I do too. But there is something very special about praying with your child. It’s something we do when they are younger but as they grow up, it’s easy to lose track of this habit. I know with jobs and activities it is harder and harder to keep any kind of schedule with them. There are times I’m in bed before my children. Even if you can’t do it every night, try and do it once in a while. And let them know you’re praying for them. Ask, what specifically can I pray for you? even adult children.