Cincinnati Family Magazine

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March 28, 2024

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The Language of Love

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, this self-diagnosed OCD momma is already obsessively searching and pinning cute Valentine’s cards, themed snacks, party games, and gifts for my family. Although my kiddos know that I love them dearly (I mean … I did tattoo their names on my side), I want to celebrate my love for them on Valentine’s Day as well. As Callie in the book, Pete the Cat Valentine’s Day is Cool said, “It’s a day to tell people how special they are to you.”

I am a gift giver. It makes my heart happy seeing someone smile as they open my gift. Trying to come up with the perfect “gift” for my kids, I kept going back and forth between a “thing” or experience. Although I know kids that are 3 and 6 like to get things, my kids do not need any more stuff. In the hunt for the perfect gift for each of them, I was reminded about a conversation that I had with my friend Sara about the Five Love Languages.

I decided to let their love languages guide my gift to them this Valentine’s Day. The Five Love Languages include Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and Physical Touch. There are online quizzes you can take to see what is your Love Language as well as your spouse and children.

After reviewing the different Love Languages, I decided that my son’s is Words of Affirmation and my daughter’s is Quality Time. While brainstorming some ideas to meet each of their love languages, I realized I already meet their love languages on a daily basis!

My husband and I work very hard to make sure that we provide a lot of positive feedback (Words of Affirmation!) to both of our kiddos. Their faces light up when we mention that great pull-back during the soccer game, the great job on penmanship, or the act of kindness we observed. We also try to not only do things as a family, but also do things alone with each of our children. It is important to us that they feel like a valued part of our family, but it is also important to us that they know they are loved as the individuals that they are. We try to have “Mommy and me” and “Daddy and me” dates often to give them quality one-on-one time.

So … after all of my extensive Valentine’s Day present research and pinning, I am going to “gift” them the same gift we have been giving them all year. For my son, we will get him a new journal where our family can write to him the reasons (words of affirmation) we are proud of him … which is an easy self-esteem boost too! His second love language is quality time, so tickets to see the new Lego Batman movie will be tucked into his new journal. For my daughter, my husband and I will plan some parent and me dates for her. He will take her Go-Cart racing … the girl is a daredevil. In May, I will take her to the Mother-Daughter retreat with 31 Ministries (something for her to look forward to on her calendar and practice delayed gratification) and for her immediate quality time gift, we will go get pedi’s … as she is a 3-year-old diva that likes to be pampered.

My gift to them will not have me crafting ’til the wee hours of the morning or spending money on things that they do not need. Knowing their love languages helped me decide on meaningful gifts for Valentine’s Day and year round. That wise cat Callie also said, “Hanging out with you … that’s way better than any card.” I look forward to hanging out with my kids and telling them why they are so special to me.

For more information on the amazing opportunity to spend quality time with your daughter, check out: http://www.my31sisters.org/mother-daughter-retreat.html

About the Author

Tina Pratt

Tina Pratt is the mom of two littles. She is a former PreK- 5 special education teacher that now works as a behavior coach. She enjoys being a tourist in her own town and finding ways to embed lessons into everyday fun!