What I Want My Kids to Know About Love

What I want my kids to know about love...Love ain't easy. And this is coming from parents who've had their fair shares of broken hearts over the years. As Valentine's Day fast approaches, Babble asked their bloggers what they'd want their kids to know about love. See below for 8 amazing tips ... and who knows, you might learn a thing or two yourself!











Forgiveness makes love last1: Forgiveness makes love last
You can't experience and maintain love for another without forgiveness. I've been through the most devastating of hurts, and most of the time I was hurt because I was the nearest person to someone who was suffering and unable to cope. I've watched those people learn to forgive themselves and become healthy human beings. I've forgiven them, just as they've forgiven me when my own maelstrom sucked them in.

Make forgiveness a part of your life. You will learn that there are a lot more things you can let go of than you think.
Read more about how forgiveness strengthens this mom's marriage


Related: 18 things I don't want my kids to learn from romantic movies


It really is all around2: It really is all around
While I'll always try to teach my girls that life is about the journey, you can be sure I'll show them that if they don't enjoy the destinations, even the most seemingly mundane ones, they'll be missing out on some of the most intimate, delicious moments.

Life is full of love - bedhead and morning breath be damned - if you don't blink and miss it before you close your eyes at night and open them in the morning.
Find out where this mom found love with her kids



You can't hurry it, just like I couldn't hurry you3: You can't hurry it, just like I couldn't hurry you
"The baby you'll have will be the baby you were meant to have," my sister told me after my first miscarriage.

Her words fell on deaf ears because I knew instinctively when I saw the word "pregnant" on the home testing kit stick that baby was the one I was meant to have. I was wrong.

The only thing that could have soothed the pain of that and two subsequent miscarriages was you, and you were so worth waiting for.
Read more about this mom's journey from miscarriage to baby





It comes in many flavors4: It comes in many flavors
At the first meeting of my daughter's school's PTA group on diversity, we go around the room and say what makes our families unique.

When it's my turn, I'm honest: My husband and I have an open marriage.

My kids are young. I haven't sat them down and said, "This woman is my girlfriend. I am in love with her." I just live my life, and they see me hold her hand. They know this person is special in my life. I'm teaching them that love comes in many forms.
Read more about how this family made polyamory work


Related: 10 secrets parents hide from their kids


I see it in you every day5: I see it in you every day
The one thing I want my kid to know about love? That in our house, love is everywhere, and she's partly responsible for that.

Love may be a really big thing, but it can be found in all sorts of small gestures, including things my daughter does every day - like the way she still wants to be carried up the stairs even though she's a "big girl."
Read 11 more little ways this mom feels her daughter sharing the love






Fighting is a part of it6: Fighting is a part of it
Have you ever heard a couple brag that they never fight? Is that really a sign of a good relationship?

Fighting is fine; it's part of a healthy relationship. What matters is that we repair things and stay connected. I don't have a problem with my son knowing that my husband and I get angry sometimes - it doesn't change how much we love each other.
Read the top 3 reasons why people should fight, even if they think they shouldn't


Related: 10 little ways our kids show they love us


Love yourself first — It's harder than you think7: Love yourself first - it's harder than you think
The great E.E. Cummings once said:

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."

It's one of my favorite quotes in spite of the fact that at one point, I was on the wrong side of it. It's one of my favorite quotes because it's what led me to love.
Read more about how this dad ditched his corporate job - and attitude - to find the family he always wanted



Dating won't make me love you less8: Dating won't make me love you less
I've got enough on my plate being a single mom with two jobs, but I would like to fall in love again someday, and not just with my daughter.

Sure, the love I feel for her could fill 20 oceans, and she remained my sole inspiration in the darkest moments of despair after my divorce. But I need more than the love of a child to feel satisfied, and that doesn't mean I love her less.
Read how this mom knows nothing can break the parent-child bond

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