February is often referred to as ‘the month of ‘Love’ due to valentine’s day.
We know that parents and guardians have an innate love for their children, however how does one communicate this love to their child on a daily basis? In today’s blog post, we are sharing our best advice on ‘Ways to Communicate ‘Love and Care’ to Your Child’.
Why is it important your child feels loved?
Firstly, let’s discuss why it is important your child feels loved in the first place. Your child needs to feel loved for healthy development and to form secure attachments. Your child feeling loved and cared for will establish in them a firm trust for you. Knowing how much you love them will be extremely beneficial for their overall wellbeing and mental health. It will draw you closer together, and as mentioned greatly contribute to your child forming secure attachments – which is extremely important for their development and adult life.
Ways To Communicate Love To Your Child
Now that we have established why it is important to go the extra mile in expressing love for your child, lets dive into our best ways to communicate love to your child. You may have your own ways you do so already, which we would love to hear! Feel free to comment below how you best show love to your child/children!
Being Vocal With Your Love and Praise
It is so simple, yet so effective. Some children have never heard their parents vocalise their love for them. Simply letting your child know ‘I love you’ goes a long way. You can go one step further by letting them know exactly what it is you find so special about them. For example, ‘the way you tell such witty jokes is so clever and funny!’
Being vocal with praising your child is also very important and effective. As a parent/guardian you are continuously correcting your child, so that they learn right from wrong. However, do not forget to praise them too. Encourage them even for the little things. This will boost their confidence and again send signals that they are truly loved and accepted.
An Embracing Hug
A loving cuddle allows your child to feel your warmth and presence. A hug communicates to your child that they are safe with you, you care about them and ultimately your love for them. Be sure to offer a hug to your child with open arms, when you think they are in any discomfort; as well as when they have any achievements. This can go hand-in-hand with our tip on praising your child above.
Disclaimer: Not all children like to be firmly embraced. If your child does not appreciate this, please do not force it upon them. You may simply say ‘Okay hon, no worries! I am here whenever you want a cuddle’ In more serious cases children with Autism may not want to be touched at all. In these circumstances, please do contact a health professional for further advice, we will leave some useful links for your personal research and reference below.
Quality Time
As a parent or carer, your life can be jam packed and you are constantly on the move. A lot of the time you may be juggling work, your personal life, as well raising your children. However, it is important to schedule in time purely to connect with your child with no distractions. You may be going through the everyday motions of the school run, homework, clubs, dinner and bedtime and sometimes, we just need to stop and take in the moments. Schedule in time where you and your child can spend real quality time together. This will make your child feel very much appreciated and loved. Simply watching a movie together, playing one of their favourite games, or perhaps baking a cake together… whatever your child enjoys and gets you spending time together! This is also a great time to gets hands on and creative!
Tip: Be sure to be intentional and mark out the time in your diary. This way you know you have allocated quality time just for your child and will not double book yourself.
Gifts
Gifts can show our loved ones how much we love them, as they send a signal that we thought about them. It is no different for your child! A gift does not have to be expensive; it can be as simple as buying your child their favourite snack on your way home from work. Or picking them up a book if your child loves to read. This will show them ‘I was thinking about you.’
Disclaimer: Many parents and carers are feeling financial pressure, due to their child wanting the latest gadgets and to keep up with the latest trends amongst children and young people. If you are feeling this sort of pressure, visit our blog post on ‘Money and Mental Health’ for some useful tips on this area. You can find it here.
These are some ways in which you can express your love for your child. As always, we are here to support you raising your child with healthy development. We offer Art, Drama and Music therapy to assist with a healthy mind, overcome trauma, explore their emotions and to have an overall good, general mental health. To enquire of our services please email us at info@bennu.org.uk or you can get in touch with us via our website contact form here. We have professional, qualified therapists, who will be more than happy to assist yourself and child through an initial assessment, and offer their expert advice going forward. Get in touch here!
We hope that this blog post has been helpful to you. Please do share with us your thoughts via social media, comments and share this post with another parent/carer.
Take care of yourself!
Bennu
Useful links
https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services/
Emegerncy Mental Health help
You call UK emergency services by dialling 999
*Not all images are our own, all credit to the original designers
