"I'm not going to celebrate a holiday created by flower businesses and greeting card companies and restaurants and stores to boost their sales." Surely you have heard this, or something similar to this at some point in your life. Or maybe you've heard "If you truly love someone, you should show them everyday of the year, not just on Valentine's Day." Am I right?!?
For starters- I used to be both of those people described above. I think somewhere between becoming a trauma therapist and a mom, my perspective changed. Let's go trauma therapist first.
When completing trauma treatment with an 8-year-old boy, who knew nothing but abuse and neglect his whole life, he was so excited to celebrate
Valentine's Day at school. Why? He told me it was because he knew all day people would be kind and he would be told he was loved. And that's when my first shift in perspective came. It broke my heart, but it also helped me realize how important this day is to children who may not have the best home life and aren't regularly told they are loved. That was my first Valentine's Day that I WENT ALL IN! I went and bought those little kid Valentine's cards, little prizes, decorated my whole office and made sure each child I saw that week were told they were loved!
Let's talk about becoming a mom. "You never truly realize how much you can love someone until you become a mom." That was something I heard over and over before I had children and you know what- they were right! It's so hard to express how much I love my kids when they are so little, but boy do I try. I told my 3-year-old son that I loved him to the moon and back and he replied "Don't go to the moon, momma." So besides telling him how much I love him, I can show him how much I love him.
Easy ways to show your kids you love them-
1) Spend 5 minutes a day completing special time.
2) Put down your phone, and get on their level and interact with them.
3) Make their favorite food for dinner.
4) Give hugs, and high-fives, and knuckles.
5) Spend 5 minutes a day completing special time- yes it's that important, I listed it twice.
Lastly, this quote below really made we think about how we can show love to our kids each day by letting them know they are loved, and important through quality time.
-Katie Smith, LCSW, Certified PCIT Global Trainers, believer of Valentine's Day everyday