Parenting : 6 Love Lessons From My Children

Children teach us a lot of love lessons, you just have to pay attention to notice them. Here is what I have noticed while raising my child,

1) Love starts out easy.

I feel like it is born out of excitement (anticipation even) as you get to know each other. It is perfect. The object of your love can do no wrong. The smiles come easy. The hugs are never enough. You want to kiss and snuggle every minute. This is, basically, love with a newborn infant. You waited 40 weeks to meet them and they are perfect in every way, easy to love and easy to please.

2) Love grows.

You think you love your child so much when you first meet them that you cannot, possibly, imagine loving them anymore. Then they start doing little things like clapping their hands and waving goodbye and you think your heart will explode. They come home from school and as they tell you about their day, you sit there pretending to listen when all you’re thinking is that you just want to hug and squeeze them really tight. The more you get to know your child, the more you learn to love them.

3)Love stops being easy.

At age four, your child is no longer that perfect, little bundle of joy. They are often an exasperating ball of energy that you try to keep under control with a whirlwind of threats. The thing is that in the quiet moments, when you least expect it, you smile at something they did or said. Or even laugh out loud. In a moment of anger, as you threaten to put them on a space ship and send them to another planet. Then they say something and all the anger is lost. Loving them through the times you feel pushed to your limit brings a beautiful new dynamic to your relationship.

4)Love has good days and bad days.

Some days are filled with lingering cuddles and invites to play with them and others have mere grunts for hellos and forgotten hugs as they leave for school. Realizing that the bad days do not take away from your love is one of the greatest lessons in parenting.

5)Love is making the decision to spend time with your child.

It is realizing that just being their parent is not enough. Nor is it a guarantee that you will have a good relationship. It is making an effort to get to know your child. Being determined to be a part of their lives by constantly working on your relationship.

6) Love is fully being there with them and for them

Love is an unexpected hug. It is quietly sitting and watching a cartoon with your child when you have a million other things to do. Love is eye contact. It is putting your phone down. Love is words of awe and marvel as they show you something they expect you to be pleased about. Its being tough on them when they need a parent because it is good for them. Love is those strange conversations at 2 am when you wake them up for their nightly bathroom visit. Overall, love is resolving to be present in the constantly evolving parent-child relationship.

If you think about it, these love lessons apply across the board in every relationship we are in.

Wishing you love.

xoxo!

Read more on Wangari’s blog

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