How do they know? Well, if you want an honest answer, all you have to do is ask them. That’s what I did with my kids when they were younger. I first asked Megan… “Megan, how do you know I love you?” “Because you tickle me,” she said. So I said, “What if my hands were tied behind my back and I couldn’t tickle you, then how would you know that I love you?” She responded, “Because you spend time with me.” Then I asked Emily, “Emily, how do you know that I love you?” “Because you say so,” she said. “Well, what if my lips were zipped together and I couldn’t say so, then how would you know that I love you?” She smiled and shouted “Because you play with me!” My son, Marky was next. Anyone that knows Marky knows that he has always been a man of few words. “Marky, how do you know I love you?” I asked. He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and with a grin said, “I don’t know.” That’s my boy!
Do you show your kids you love them with your actions? By being affectionate with them?
Here are a few things I’ve done to show affection to my children.
- Wink at my daughter across the dinner table.
- Hold my girl’s hand while taking a walk.
- Give big hugs to my son.
- Have a bedtime tuck in routine where I pray with them and sing to them even though I’m not a vocalist!
- When I say to my daughter, “I love you the most.” She says, “I love you more.” I say, “No, I Iove you more.” She responds with, “I love you more than the world,” then I say, “I love you more than the Universe!”
- I say “I love you” to my daughter by giving hand signals pointing to my eye, my heart and to them.
If you have teen daughters, please hear me. Your affection shouldn’t stop when they become tweens or teens. If you don’t show affection to your daughter, someone else will. It’s easy when they’re little girls. When they go through puberty and become young women, it can seem a bit awkward for us and for them. But they need affection just as much during those budding, pimple-faced adolescent years as they did before. They may look like a young woman on the outside, but on the inside, they’re still a girl. Show affection always! Here are 10 things all loving fathers should do for their kids.