8 Ways to Brighten Up Your Kid's Day

How to brighten up your kid's day...
How to brighten up your kid's day...

I love my kids so much that I sometimes go without food, drink, sleep, or other conveniences

so they can have an easier, more comfortable life. It's certainly not anything dramatic, but there are nights once the littles are in bed that I sit down on the couch and realize I haven't had a decent meal or moment to myself all day long. It's a wonderful existence, raising these two little girls of mine, but it can also be an exhausting one. The everyday things we go through and do for our kids as their parents are testaments to just how much we love these little critters, but sometimes kids don't see a homemade meal and warm bed as love. Just as any relationship needs constant care and nourishment, the relationship with our kids is no different. Kids thrive when they know they are safe and loved, they can reach farther and grow stronger when they know they have the support of their family behind them.

While there are no better words than 'I love you' sometimes actions do truly speak louder than words, especially when it comes to our kids and what follows are 8 small actions that speak volumes to how special our kids are to us.


Date Them
Date Them


1. Date Them
A local restaurant has a happy hour every weekday from 2-4 where all drinks and milkshakes are 1/2 price. For $4, my little lady and I can have the elementary equivalent of chatting over coffee. Both my husband and I make a point to spend one-on-one time with our oldest daughter, especially since the baby came along.

Related: 10 toddler types your kid will meet on the playground


Meet Them for Lunch
Meet Them for Lunch


2. Meet Them for Lunch
Find out when your child's lunch hour is at school and swap stories over brown bags and PB&J.


Tell Them Stories About Themselves
Tell Them Stories About Themselves


3. Tell Them Stories About Themselves
I have photo albums filled with baby pictures of my oldest. She loves to look through them with me and hear stories about what she was like as a baby.


Leave Them Love Notes
Leave Them Love Notes


4. Leave Them Love Notes
My personal favorite place to leave a love note is on her pillow or just under her blanket. I usually leave her one when I head out with my friends for the evening and she'll be asleep before I get home.

Related: 10 very real and ridiculous reasons why kids are late to school


Draw in Their Lunch
Draw in Their Lunch


5. Draw in Their Lunch
Have you ever seen lunchbox daily? This dad draws a new (amazing) cartoon or joke in his kid's lunchbox everyday. He's becoming "the lunchbox guy" around his kid's school.


Wait for Them at the Door
Wait for Them at the Door


6. Wait for Them at the Door
As soon as I hear the bus round the corner I head to the window with Vivi and wave at Addie until she's at the front door. If Vivi's asleep I'll wait at the door to hug her. I once had a cab driver in Toronto that said having his mom hug him everyday when he got home from school meant more to him than anything else in his entire childhood.

Related: 10 reasons I love being a 40-something mom


Put a Funny Picture in Their Pocket
Put a Funny Picture in Their Pocket


7. Put a Funny Picture in Their Pocket
Or in their backpack, wherever you know they'll look. Maybe in a mitten. They can either keep it all to themselves or show it to their friends - before soon, they'll have an entire collection.


Brag About Them
Brag About Them


8. Brag About Them
Tell other grownups on occasion something wonderful your child did when you know they can hear you. Sometimes having them right by you as you talk them up can make them uncomfortable, but having them within earshot lets them know how proud you are of them.

- By Casey Mullins

For 12 more ways to brighten up your kid's day, visit Babble!

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Family Kitchen | Babble.com
Family Kitchen | Babble.com

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