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Healthy Families
Appreciate each other and spend time together
It’s no secret that love is the foundation of healthy families. Of course, we love our children, but love is more than a feeling — it is an action.
The only kind of love that is truly affirming is unconditional love. If we express our love to our children only when they please us, we are only just loving ourselves by reassuring ourselves of our own values.
Our love for our children cannot be dependent on what they do. The secure parent will risk self-doubt by continuing to love children even when their behavior is emotionally challenging.
Loving a child no matter how he or she behaves does not mean forsaking discipline — but there is a difference between disliking the deed and disliking the doer. The wise parent will recognize that a child (or adult) who misbehaves is crying out for help.
Touching and unconditional love
One of the best ways to express unconditional love to our child is by touching. Hugging, kissing, and stroking our child, holding hands, putting an arm around our child’s shoulder, looking into our child’s eyes, and giving a back rub, all communicate love more concretely than do any words. Don’t just reserve eye contact for when children do things we don’t like. And, remember…
