On the day of Valentine's, it's fun to talk about love -- one of my favourite conversations to have with my kids is "what does love look like?"
Depending on the day, they tell me it's pink hearts, or maybe unicorns, or sometimes they say that you can't "see" feelings so love is invisible.
To me, in truth, you CAN see love, and it's not glittery or pink.
Here's what it looks like:
- it looks like making heart pancakes when I'd rather sleep
- it looks like breathing deep and praying when I'd rather get mad
- it looks like less of ME, and more of THEM
- it looks like gentle touches and kind eyes even when the frustration of laundry, cooking, cleaning, where is the $ going, are piling up on me
- it looks like making mistakes, and being willing to set my pride aside, to make amends
I'm trying to teach my girls that love isn't candles and roses, it's sacrifice and respect and thinking. It's not sweet words without action. It's not reckless emotion nor cold logic. It's a conscious choice, day by day (sometimes minute by minute), resulting in actions that benefit the recipient of the love. (definition borrowed from Vodi Baucham's youtube series on love and marriage)
Valentines day and hearts and chocolate and roses are fun, but on a more serious note, what does everyone else try to teach their kids about love? I want to get it right for them.