101 Ways to Tell Your Child "I Love You"

Rating:
Summary: Touch Their Hearts
Review: For the brain dead, for those who need to practice for spontaneous moments, for those who just need one more little idea because the well has run dry, this little book is a nifty package of ideas on how to let a child know that he is loved.

I don't mock this book, 101 Ways to Tell Your Child 'I Love You' because it is pretty handy. (I put myself in the second category, those who need to practice spontaneity). Neither do I make fun who might find the book useful because we could all use a new idea occasionally. I suspect there are many people who don't need this advice on a day-to-day basis, though may occasionally just be stumped for a new idea, but for the rest of us, the book offers its promised 101 tips of sending an unmistakable message of love to a child (and could be adapted for grown-up children, I think.)

Aside from the good ideas, the major strength of this book is that it doesn't lecture but instead delivers ideas in very short doses, one or two sentences at the most, an idea per page, with easy-to-do suggestions. Some require a little more effort than others, such as preparing "coupons" for a hug or a kiss, but most are extremely easy to do, and require only a moment or two of time, and the desire to show love.

There is something for everyone here, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, stay-at-homes or career parents, or anyone who wants to deliver the message to a child. Not every idea will be of interest to every person, but even a handful of them, tried occasionally or often, will help a child get the word.

Here are just a few:

See how many words you and your child can make from the letters I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.

Leave surprise love notes in unexpected places, such as the bathroom mirror or the front door.

Mail a letter or a card to your child, even if you haven't gone away. Getting mail is a special event for children.

Go for a walk in the moonlight, or in a new snowfall or even a warm summer rain.

Make a heartshaped I LOVE YOU puzzle. Write your message of love on the cardboard and then cut it into pieces so your child can put it back together.

Wake your child with a kiss.

Let your child "accidentally" overhear you singing their praises to others. (My daughter pretends to object to this, claiming she hates it when parents talk about their children with other parents, but, luckily for me, I see the secret smile of pleasure.)

And, the clincher: Make a will naming a guardian or executor. It is the most loving and thoughtful thing you can do for a child.

I've personally tried many of these, and found them hugely helpful when just a simple "I love you" isn't enough. Some I'd actually thought of myself!!--such as making up a simple song featuring her name or going for a walk in the rain or moonlight.

She quickly caught on to one little ritual I started, which was to list two or three or four things I loved about her, or that she had done especially well, each night as I tucked her in. Very soon my list was interrupted with, "And what else?" "And what else?"

Kids love love is the message I take from that. It's so simple. Offer this book to anyone who has, or once was, a child.