I had a parenting epiphany this same time last year.
It was a Sunday morning and I was curling Elle’s hair. We were also working on memorizing the Articles of Faith. She was writing them on the mirror with window markers and I was explaining meanings and phrases as I curled.
The time together was not going well. Elle was yelling, whining, complaining and crying. I was growing more and more impatient and more and more confused. I couldn’t understand how this situation could go wrong. I was trying to help my daughter look nice and be smart. She had my undivided attention. I was being a good mom! D@#% it!
I chose to walk away from the situation and ponder. My thoughts went something like this: “What more can I do? What am I doing wrong? Why does she often freak out on me when I am trying to be a good mom?”
Shortly there after, the answer came to me: Love Language— “What is Elle’s love language?”
Now I had studied love languages as they related to spouses, but I had never thought of them in context with children- until that morning. I realized I was showing Elle love in a way that I thought was important, in ways that I valued. I was serving her and spending time with her. But maybe that was not the way Elle wanted to be shown love? Maybe she didn’t see my curling her hair and memorization tips as acts of love? Maybe she needed something different?
Not coincidentally, I was in a book store the next day looking to spend a gift card and I stumbled across this book:
The 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell.
I spent my gift card and read the book (and you should too)…
I learned some interesting information from the book, so in honor of the month of love, I wanted to share it with you. I am going to do a series on the love languages of children . I hope you will stick with me as I summarize and explore the 5 different love languages through personal experiences. Here is a brief outline and calendar of the series (subject to change):
Intro (Today)
Love Language #1: Quality Time (Monday)
Love Language #2: Words of Affirmation (Tuesday)
Love Language #3: Physical Touch (Wednesday)
Love Language #4: Acts of Service (Thursday)
Love Language #5: Gifts / Wrap Up (Friday)
Hope to see you all next week.
![I spoke in church today and said the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest act of Charity. I read Moroni 7:45-47 to make my point. But wherever there was the word ‘Charity’ I substituted it out for ‘the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’ See if these scripture verses now have new meaning for you:
“And the Atonement of Jesus Christ suffererth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth in the truth,
[The Atonement of Jesus Christ] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ye are nothing, for the Atonement of Jesus Christ never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail-
But the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
So Easter really reminds us of love. The first and greatest commandment.](https://www.raisinglemons.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
I’m looking forward to this series!!
This book looks amazing. I just bought the kindle version.