I am only two years into this parenting gig, and so far it has turned me into a charade guessing expert! No but really! From the moment my son was born, I felt like I was constantly guessing what he was “trying” to tell me through his different cries! Most times I failed at guessing, and I would resort to desperately trying to fix it by doing everything until he stopped crying!
Then before he could speak, he became frustrated with us because we did not understand what he was trying to say through his babbling and mumbling of words. Then as the year went by, he became a confident little speaker, and now he strings his sentences together so nicely. However, there are days where it feels as though he is playing emotional charades with us and we are left trying to guess all over again what is really going on in his little heart and mind.
ARE WE SPEAKING THEIR LANGUAGE?
Sometimes we speak to our children in a way that they don’t understand, because truth be told they interpret things differently. Every child understands and responds to different ways of communicating that is different from the next. Therefore it’s important to get to know our children, by understanding their personalities and then trying different ways of communicating with them until we find a way that works for them.
Every child has a love language that speaks of love directly to their little hearts. As our children grow, it’s vital that we look out for their love languages and find ways to speak their love language directly to them.
UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S LOVE LANGUAGES
Try to spot your child’s love language and think of ways in which you can incorporate them into your day to day with them:
1) TOUCH – They love hugs, kisses, cuddles, high fives, and love to be carried. Think of ways where you can allow for lots of hugs, tickles, and maybe try reading stories together whilst they sit in your lap.
2) QUALITY TIME – Loves to do things with you, they love being outdoors with you and going for walks together or maybe they want to sit next to you and eat supper with you. Be more inclusive when going about your week, take them with you on fun outings to the running or errands. Whatever it is, they just want to be with you, take it as a compliment!
3) GIFTS – They enjoy special surprises, and love unexpected gifts, to favorite treats or having their favorite meal made just for them! It’s not so much the material gift, but more about the thought behind the gift. It says to them; “Hey, I was thinking of you, because you are so very special to me!”
4) SERVICE – They love it when others help them to do things, or when others do nice things for them. It could mean helping them with the chores, to helping them finishing off of a project. Maybe you could be more intentional about working on a sporting activity with them in the evenings, or help them with homework, or help them to finish off an art project.
5) WORDS – They love affirmation, and encouragement! Be specific when praising them, if they painted a picture, be sure to tell them what a beautiful picture they drew and make note of the details! Encourage them in front of others, and compliment them sincerely, and watch them beam with pride and joy!
Be on the look out for some of these particular love languages for your child, and think of little ways in which you can speak of love directly to them in a way that speaks so loudly of love to them!