Parents Are Sharing Tiny Ways To "Sprinkle Love" On Their Kids & It's The Best

Every single night when I tuck them in, I tell my kids, “I love you just the way you are, with no changes.” It’s a Mr. Rogers quote, and I’ve told them that even before they understood language, all the way to today, when they are often surly tweens. It’s just a tiny way that I make sure that they know they are loved, no matter the chaos that happens earlier in the day. And it literally only takes 5 seconds.

Over on Reddit, in the parenting forum, one parent was seeking more ways that we can tell our kids we love them in small but significant ways — ways that don’t take much time or many resources but have a big impact.

“What are some ways you deliberately show your kids that true, deep love,” asked one group member.

They shared a few of their own little ways first, before asking for other ideas.

“If they are leaving in a car (e.g., partner taking them to school) I will stand outside smiling, waving and blowing kisses enthusiastically until they can't see me anymore,” they wrote, for example. “This takes 10-20 seconds max but hopefully leaves them feeling warm and loved as they leave. They've never seen me turn and walk away, I always keep that connection until the last second and it's something I treasure.”

Down in the comments, there were so many feel-good, easily adaptable ideas for other parents.

Here are some of our favorites:

“I tell my kids what I want them to believe about themselves. I NEVER make negative statements about who they are (‘you never listen!’) but will often say things like ‘you're so good at making friends’ or ‘you're always so patient with your puzzles’. We are their authority on everything, these statements become their self-identity.”

“I’ll contribute one I made a pact to myself about when my 2 year old was born — to meet and keep his eye contact as much as I can. Starting when he was a newborn barely aware of what he was looking at — if he met my eyes, I’d lock in and get present with him. Even just for a short time. I still try to do it as much as I can.”

“Whenever my kids (10, 7, 6) are having a hard time, I tell them they can transfer their feelings to me through a hug or breathing. So I just hold them or sit next to them and I say ‘breathe your bad feelings out, I can take them.’ And I ‘breathe them in’ and then ‘let them go’ when I breathe them out. This has been super effective as a way of calming them down and also showing them that their feelings don’t scare me- I can take it and they don’t have to do it alone.”

“In the movie Cadet Kelly, Kelly says, ‘one of the great things about mom is that she always greets you like you’ve been gone for three years’ and as a teenager I vowed I would always do that for my kids and so far I’ve stuck to it, I am always so happy to see my kiddos!”

“I have one rule with my 7 year old. I never end a hug, just in case kiddo needs a longer than the quick break away hug sometimes. So every time we hug, my son is always the one who breaks away first.”

“Whenever I hold my 5 year old son’s hand, I press it three times look him in the eyes, and say I love you, eventually, I do the hand press only every now and then while holding his hand, until the day he pressed my hand three times and smiled at me, so now it’s our silent love language.”

“I ask my kids, ‘what do you think about this’ or ‘what would your solution be?’ I want them to know that their voice matters.”

“When my kids were in school, on their birthday I would gift wrap each individual piece of their lunch. Sandwich, apple, yogurt, spoon, thermos, etc. And you know I always put extra stuff in the lunch that day just so I could wrap more stuff!”