The Best Thing You Can Give to Your Child
By Khunsa Ansari
By Khunsa Ansari
There are many wonderful things you can give to your child, but there is only one simple thing that would shape who they grow to be, affecting them forever: love.
In the book The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell, there are five key things parents must do to their child in order to truly love them. Most parents believe that only doing things for them, such as buying their clothes, is enough to show that they love them—but Chapman and Campbell disagree. They identify the five love languages for children as "Physical Touch, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, and Acts of Service" (Pam Leo). Physical Touch means healthy, supportive, and affectionate touch like hugs and kisses. Quality Time is just as it sounds; relaxing and simply having fun doing various activities together. Words of Affirmation is expressing appreciation and encouragement, verbally. Gifts given occasionally and not too much at a time are valuable because they, too, represent love and generosity. Acts of Service is the trap parents fall into, if they think this is the most important way of showing their children that they love them. Food, clothing, shelter, and even toys to interact with are the bare necessities, NOT the most important way to express love. It is crucial that parents realize this when raising their children, to ensure they grow up to be healthy, happy, and loving adults.
As Author Pam Leo describes, there is a fine line between knowing you are loved and actually feeling loved: "Knowing the sun is shining by seeing it out the window is a very different experience than going outside and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin" (Pam Leo). Do you really believe that children can grow to be loving if they never really experience it themselves?
The world is a sad place, but within it, there are people out there who know to love others because they know the effect it can have on one's life. How do they know this? Because they were loved as children, and felt it, too. Raise your children to be great citizens of the world. The best thing you can give to your child is love.
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