You, as a parent, are the most important person in your children’s life. They need your love and attention. Here are just a few of the ways that will help your children to know how much you love and cherish them.
Play with them
Kids love to play, and play is how they learn. No matter whether a toddler or an older child they still love to play and they still need their mommy and daddy to take time out to play with them. For toddlers, I like getting toys that help teach, like shape cubes and puzzles. I got down on the floor and helped, but not too much! Let them try and learn on their own, too. I would show mine where the pieces go a couple of times, and then help guide their hands. Then let them try. As my children grow they enjoy different types of play. My daughter loves games like hide and seek and tag. It’s fun to play with her, too. Older children also enjoy board games. And if you have children a few years apart like I do, you can always find fun activities to do together, such as using sidewalk chalk, playing catch, coloring, and bubbles. The kids will have a blast, and you will, too!
Talk To Them
No matter their age, kids love when you talk to them. Even babies love hearing mommy and daddy’s voice. No one appreciates my silly jokes like my five year old. She laughs and laughs even if they aren’t that funny. She likes hearing them and she likes that I take the time to share them with her. Kids like to be included in your life and conversations. They like hearing stories about your past. One thing my daughter really loves is to get out old picture albums, both from her baby days and mine, and hear the stories behind the pictures. Kids don’t tire easily of the same story. Even my toddler loves to hear my silly stories and jokes. You won’t find a more appreciative audience than your children!
Listen to Them
This one is as important as talking to them. Kids have things to say, too, and even if it doesn’t seem important to us, it’s important to them. My daughter loves telling me jokes. Even though most of them don’t make sense, I still laugh because it’s great that she’s trying to use her imagination and to entertain me. That’s when I might throw in one of my own so she has some jokes to tell me later. Even very small children like to share things with mommy and daddy. When my toddler sees something that entertains him, I commonly hear, “Mama. Mama,” as he pats my leg to share with me what he found so interesting. I love that he wants to share things with me. Children can get very creative with their stories. Look them in the eye and respond. They need to know that you are paying attention and not just half listening to them. This will make them feel important, and as I’ve learned from my own children, means the world to them.
Let Them Help
Helping you do everyday tasks is how they learn to do things themselves and become independent. You can give them age appropriate chores. Even my toddler loves to help. He can throw things in the trash for me, help me dust, and pick up his toys. Even though my five year old likes to pretend that she doesn’t know how to clean her room, she can. She also helps me with laundry, rinses dishes, and helps me dust. And the best part is, at this age, they want to help. When they get older they probably won’t want to, so it’s good to teach them when they are little. At this age they are not only spending time with mom, but they are doing things “big people” do.
Teach Them
Kids love to learn, and they need to learn. To them, you know it all, you are their parent. Take advantage of this before they think that you don’t know anything. My daughter loved flashcards and showing her flash cards repeatedly taught her the alphabet and what each letter looked like. When she got a little bigger I would draw letters and let her trace them, until she could write the alphabet on her own. If you are religious, teach them about your religion. I read mine Bible Stories and try to take them to Sunday School. I taught my little girl how to pray and taught her some fun church songs. Another good tool that we are starting to use is the fun kids section of the bank website, which a lot of banks have now. This teaches children about saving money and how important it is. This is something that will definitely come in handy later in life and that’s why I feel it is important for my children to learn as soon as possible. Kids will learn a lot in school, but it’s important that they learn from mom and dad, too.
There are lots of ways to let your children know you love them. The most important, in which all of these things involve, is spending time with them. Children love time with you more than any toy or gift you could give them. My kids would much rather play with mom or dad with nothing more than a box and an imagination to turn it into a castle than they would get a brand new expensive toy and play with it by themselves. We, as parents, are the most important people in our children’s lives. Be there for them. It’s the most important thing you will ever do for them.
