Ten Ways to Say “I Love You” to Your Children

Happy Valentine’s Day!  We thought today would be a perfect opportunity to share some ideas with you on unique ways to show your children you love them.  You can try these ideas this week, but more importantly, keep them in mind for any time of the year!  Some of these ideas were sent to us by loyal readers.  Thank you to those of you who helped contribute!

If you are up early, log on to Fox 8 Morning News to see TMoM present these ideas live on Mommy Matters at 9:30am!

And as always, please share your own ideas at the end of today’s post!

1. I buy my children a book each year.  Some ideas of ones I have bought in the past were, I Love You Through and Through, I Love You Stinky Face, Won’t You Be My Huggaroo?, Won’t You Be My Kissaroo?, etc.  Write a special note inside each one. … ~ Sent in by Ryan Leigh

2. A wonderful way to show your children you love them is by teaching them scripture.  A friend of mine wrote the words for 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (love is patient, love is kind…) on lots of construction paper hearts, and the children learn the scripture in the month of February. A few words are written on each heart, and they hang the heart on the window after they recite it. Then they add on each day. She gets those hearts out every year in Feb, and they “re-learn” it. ~ Sent in by Jill

3. How about a night to dress up and go out?  If you have a son, it is a perfect excuse for a date night with your buddy and a chance for him to use that coat and tie he wore to your cousin’s wedding!  And if you have a daughter, she will thoroughly enjoy a girls night out in fancy dresses.  You can go to dinner, visit a museum, sit at a coffee house and talk, paint pottery (bring a change of clothes!) … the possibilities are endless!

4. Fondue night is a favorite for all members of the family!  If you don’t have a fondue pot, put a request out on your Facebook page and you’ll find one to borrow easily!  Allrecipes.com has some fabulous cheese fondue recipes as well as desserts!  It is a great way to spend a relaxed dinner together while you all talk and enjoy your meal instead of rushing through dinner.

5. I am making a flip book for my son with each page being a letter of the alphabet. On each page I put something that I love about him that begins with that letter!  ~Sent in by Casey

6. I give my children a little something “red” that they needed or could use.  Ideas would be red pajamas, red matchbox car., etc.  I also use a heart shaped cookie cutter as much as possible on their meals!   ~Sent in by Erin

7. A trip down memory lane is always fun for your children.  My kids love for me to tell stories to them about when they were “little.”  That could mean as recently as a year ago!  We also enjoy watching videos together from previous birthdays, holidays or vacations.  Another way to relive old memories is to pull out their baby books.  My children love flipping through the pages to read about when they were born and seeing photos of everyone who came to visit them.  If you have trouble remembering things (like all moms do) try this memory jar idea from VeryPinteresting.com.

8. I like to surprise my children with notes in their lunchboxes every so often. You can write your own notes and include drawings that will make them smile.  Or if your creative juices have not been flowing quite as much lately, check out this website to order pre-printed notes! ~ Sent in by Katie

9. Each year on Valentine’s Day, I make crepes with strawberries and whipped cream for my children.  They also get a side of bacon and sparking apple or grape juice. I try to serve it all on our best china. I started doing this for my husband before we had children and I have kept it up!  ~Sent in by Suzanne

10. My family has had a lot of fun with Shmily coins.  Shmily stands for “See how much I love you.”  One person will hide the coin anywhere in the house in order for a loved one to find it.  It could be hours or it could be months before the coin is found.  The longer it takes to find it, the more fun it can be!  We usually forget all about it and then it pops up at the most surprising times.  Just the other day I went to put on a pair of shoes I had not worn in a while.  I felt something odd when I slid my foot into the shoe and there was the Shmily coin!  I quickly found a new place to hide the coin and it had me smiling all morning.