Spread the Love

February is the month of love! There are never enough ways to show or express your love to your children, and their feeling loved and cared for even when you might be busy is imperative to their physical and emotional health.  There are hundreds of ways you can show your children that you love and cherish them throughout the day, and while you might shower your family throughout the year with unconditional love, why not get creative this month and go beyond the hugs and kisses to show your affection? We’ve compiled some easy and creative ways to let your kiddos know you are thinking about them even when you are running around trying to be Super Mom—and you don’t have to get struck by cupid’s arrow to do them!

• Propose a milk toast to your child at dinner.
• Leave sticky notes with funny quotes written on them around the house for them to find.
• Place a small token/gift under their pillows at night.
• Mail them handmade cards or write them letters.
• Wish upon a star at night together.
• Cut their sandwiches or pancakes into fun shapes.
• Dye their milk their favorite colors.
• Read them one more book.
• Create a secret handshake that only you and your kids will know.
• Start a journal together and leave each other passages. Place the book in a hidden spot for the other to find.
• Cook a child’s favorite meal together.
• Take them to a movie they want to see.
• Make a frame together and put a picture of the two of you in it.
• Hide Hershey Kisses in their coat pockets.
• Search the house together for lost change, then take the kids to an arcade or candy store.
• Welcome them home from school with their favorite snack.
• Wake them up in the morning with their favorite breakfast.
• Watch home movies together, with them as the stars.
• Make a fort or tent and have a picnic inside; share funny stories or tell secrets to one another.
• Share pictures of yourself as a child and tell them stories about your childhood.
• Make a coupon book filled with things your child loves to do or passes for things they want to get out of.
• Write them a poem.
• Surprise them and “kidnap” them from school to take them out for lunch.
• Make lists of all the things you love about them and place the lists on their pillows at night.
• Make a CD of all of their favorite songs and have a dance party.
• Decorate the doors to their rooms.
• Go through their baby books or baby pictures and tell them about the day they were born.
• Spend a day “unhooked” and totally focused on them.
• Allow them uninterrupted time at the dinner table to talk about their day.
• Go to the store together and get ingredients to make hot fudge sundaes.
• Ask them what they want to do today and actually follow through with it, within reason of course.
• Leave encouraging notes in their lunch boxes.
• Create bedtime stories with your child as the hero to highlight his special traits and strengths.
• Designate a place in your home as an art gallery to display your child’s masterpieces.
• Blow up a picture of your child and every day add a word that represents a quality that you respect about her.
• Make an appreciation board and every morning write a word or place a sticker on the board and tell him why you appreciate him.
• When the weather warms up, plant a tree or garden in your children’s honor and have them help you with the gardening process: choosing the location and plants and the keeping up the space. 
• Have a tickle fest or pillow fight.
• Cuddle up on the couch with hot chocolate and their favorite book.
• Redecorate their rooms just because and have them help design their renovated spaces.
• Make bath time elaborate with scented bubbles, dyed water, bath crayons and paint for the walls. Throw some balloons in there and hang some streamers, too!
• Help them create scrapbooks of all of their favorite things. Allow them to elaborate and explain why each item is special to them.
• At bedtime, let them ask you 10 different questions each night and give them your undivided attention as you answer them all. It will be fun to see what kind of questions they come up with!

You don’t need to spend a lot of money, if any, when expressing your love for your child. And it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time or effort to do so either. What is important is to remember the little things we do as parents for our children that will bring the most joy and meaning to their lives. As we celebrate the season of love and affection, take a few extra moments to show your little Valentines how much they mean to you.

Jennifer Duxbury is an Olathe resident who is a SAHM and excited to shower her little ones this month with some creative love!