Motherhood Mondays: 5-Minute Game to Make Your Child Feel Loved

Love this!! My 2nd child is 6 months old, and I’m starting to see how quickly my 3.5 year old can get starved for attention (which seems CRAZY to me because it feels like we’re stuck together – our theme song is “Stuck Like Glue”…). I’m excited to try the love egg out! As for readying the first love for the second – we talked with our son a LOT about being a big brother, we used her name with him as soon as we could, and (this was the clincher I think), we took him to pick out a present for her. When he met her for the first time, he was able to give her a gift. To his surprise, she had bought him a gift too! (“How did she know that I LOVE Batman????”) He loves her. Too much, sometimes…. Best of luck. These little people always surprise us for the better. :)

I tried this with my 4 year old daughter tonight. Her response? She giggled and then kissed each part of me back, ending with her own love egg cracked over my head. It was delightful!

I have a 2yr old daughter & a 6 month old son. Every night the last thing I do with the 2 year old is lay on her bed with her & talk about her day & what she has done with all the little details that made it special. It only takes a few minutes but she loves it and so do I!

Even 5 minutes to a child when it is spent like that is precious. I’m sure that the kid will remember it even when he/she is already an adult and it will be a beautiful memory.

I’m a single child, never had issues with sharing etc (althought it turned out to be a huge problem later on). My husband and I haven’t planned yet, but one part of me wants two kids (so that they could be there for each other) while the other part of me thinks one is probably good enough – may be then we could take Bette care like send him/her to a private school, may be?

As I’m typing this, I’ve begun to realize how ridiculous my thought on justification for a single kid is! We’re definitely going with two! :-)

-Aparna

As I was reading all the insightful comments my 4 year old came over. I decided to try the “filling up with love” bc I can tell Annika has been craving my energy/attention of before. I’m 33 weeks pregnant with our second and definitely slowing down big time. She beamed like I haven’t seen her beam in a while. That look that’s beyond happy!

All the comments were great to read. Love to hear what memories adults have of their siblings. So far Annika is thrilled to have a sister join her. She’s very aware of how hard it was to have this child. But I’m also trying to foster a good relationship between the two of them. I’ve had a so-so relationship with my younger brother of 5 yrs. I’ve been reading 2 books that have been great: Sibblings Without Rivalry and The Birth Order Book. I’m going to pick up Playful Parenting next! I need more tips like that! Thx Joanna!!

I only have the one sister (my best friend and traveling companion) and couldn’t imagine life as an only child. My sister is absolutely necessary to make my world go ’round.

On the flip side, my boyfriend is the youngest of 13 children; having met all his siblings and heard stories about his mother, it actually sounds completely wonderful. His parents gave their children such a fantastic gift–12 other wonderful people who will love and protect each other all their lives.

It’s really empowering to hear about his childhood. From what I’ve heard, his mom was a lovely, funny woman who didn’t let having so many children define her. He remembers her sunbathing in the backyard, and the children could only come out and bother her when it was time to apply more baby oil to her back!

And the family dynamic is really fun; his oldest brother is actually a few months older than my own dad. :)

i hope one day to have children. :)

maybe two or three. the boyfriend ‘reckons’ he wants about six… hah!

but i am the youngest of three girls, so i never really had to be jealous or anything of a new baby — i just adored my sisters, even though i was the annoying one! haha. :)

Great thought, great book! I need to pick it up and continue reading it. :)

I am the oldest of 6; the youngest is (wait for it) 2 months younger than my first son. I remember when my mom had my second youngest brother while I was in high school I freaked out – hormones of pregnant moms and teenage daughters do not mix – but as soon as he was born I was in love (and I’m that brother’s godmother). It was also kind of nice being pregnant with my mom – I had no other pregnant friends at the time, and she was a seasoned pro.

With my own first son, we’ve been playing “baby” lately to give him some time to just be snuggled and kissed and held, but I was worried that he’d think only babies get that kind of attention… so I will try this one instead (and play baby, just to give us some time to talk about when he was a baby).

i’m going to remember this because I think its a great way to show extra love to all the kiddos. I guess the only thing is that the kids have to be old enough to understand it. I know many parents who have multiple children under 3 and I don’t think they would quite get it unfortunately :(

one can really learn one thing or two here!! i don’t have any kids now, but my hubby and i are planning on having one this year… i’ll most definitely try the add thing

I’ve got one little man and have always “filled him up with kisses every morning!” when I ask him is he full he always says”maybe just one more!”

Oh my goodness! I have 6 month old twins and I have a 2 year old. Has been crazy and I feel it is a much bigger life change have 3 kids than it ever was with one! one you can take anywhere with you. Nw our parent to child ration is 2 to 3! but so so so lovely to watch interaction between our 3 kids. I have made sure our 2 year old feels like the babies are his, I often tell him how much they love him and think he is funny, big, brave and strong….. now their relationship is a natural, beautiful one with loads of affection

joanna! i read your blog pretty consistently but rarely comment. i just wanted to say that you do an impeccable job at making your life and thoughts so relevant to people in every season — what a gift of inclusion you have. :) you must make an excellent friend to the people in your life!

in response to this post: the 5 minute game is brilliant! my sister is about to have #2 and i’ll share this idea with her in regards to my nephew. happy monday!

I have 4 kids, 2 girls and 2 boys and am done! I grew up with 3 sisters and a brother and loved it. 4 does get a little crazy now that they are getting older. It really was so much easier when they were younger! It can also get wild and loud at our house and we are an instant party.

Ah, this would have done my mother well! My sister was born 18 months after myself, and I had a difficult time — at first. As my mother was preoccupied nursing, I would do things I knew she couldn’t stop (ie: squatting on the carpet, juuustt out of reach.)

Sooner than later, though, I began to realize how special, and alike, my sister was and best friends we became:)

annie, yes! i love the books Playful Parenting (for kids of all ages), the happiest baby on the block (for newborns), and the sleep easy solution (for sleep/naps). those are the only ones i’ve loved so far. i’ll keep reading!! xoxo

that photo captures so much childhood happiness. i hope i can be as good a mother as her. that is an awesome tip.

anonymous, yes! if you hang out with your friend and their child, i’d recommend doing something the child will like, so you and your friend can chat. for example, just going to a playground or a park. if you try to do something more “grown-up,” like go to lunch, it usually is more stressful for the mom (at least, for me!) because you worry your baby will make noise/not sit still/etc. but if the little one can run around a bit, you guys can just chill, drink coffee, catch up! :)

That is a wonderful idea. It’s a beauitful things that she wanted to come up this such a game to make absolute sure that her children felt loved. Thank you for sharing, i am saving this idea in my head “saved” !

i have a whopping seven siblings! although i think my parents are a little crazy, i can’t imagine life without any of one of them. i have one now, and want two or three more…we’ll see!

You have the best posts! I have a 14-month old son and am ready for another child but always struggle with when the right time is and will I have enough of “mom” to go around for two kids. Also, as a working mom I struggle with that guilt of someone else (the nanny) raising him. I’m going to start this egg thing and “mom love” every morning before I leave for work for sure!

I love that. I’m the oldest of three children, and I remember that everyday before school, my mom would take our hands and kiss them. That way we had “kisses in our hands” for when we would need them during the day. We loved it too.

This is really too sweet :) I am the oldest of 3 siblings. My parents tell me that they decided to have my little sister sooner rather than later because at 2 yrs old, I had developed 3 imaginary friends. Its funny now but they say they were worried I needed a companion. I don’t remember being jealous of my sister but when I was 8 they had my brother and I can remember clinging to my mom and squeezing her. I bet it was for attention.

my boyfriend just informed me that he would like 4 children… there was 4 children in his family and 2 in mine… perhaps we can settle on 3 and a puppy. I’m bookmarking all your tips…i’ll eventually need them!!!

My brother and I were adopted and from as early as I can remember my mom explained it as “you didn’t come from my tummy, but you came from my heart” and then she would talk about how lucky she was that we picked her. I really think it was the best way to explain it, and it still makes me feel extra special.

This is a great tip! I am pregnant with baby #2… Baby #1 will be a year and a half when #2 is born! I’m nervous and love reading what works or doesn’t work in other families.

so so so so cute!!! love her!

What a great idea for little ones.
I’m due July 4th with our first baby and we would love about 5 or 6 children, but we’ll have to see what is in store for us.

I will definitely have to check that book out.

We have two girls, a 3 year old and a year old. The first 6 months of having two was much, much more difficult than I anticipated it being. But now that we’re past the baby-stage, having two is so much fun. Seeing how much they love and care for each other makes the difficult few months we endured worth it, I think. I also love knowing that they’ll always have each other – a priceless gift.

I was torn between two or three kids. Then God thought I needed twin girls the second time around – I can not imagine life without them or my son. Guess he knew I never would have been able to handle a third pregnancy.

I am the oldest and have two younger siblings. I think I was too excited to have “a live baby doll” to notice any lack in attention.

So sweet! My mom had a really great way of soothing any jealousy or neglected feelings. If we needed a hug or her attention, we would just say, “Mom, I need some EXTRA LOVING.” She would make a big deal of dropping whatever she was doing and squeeze us and kiss us until we were out of breath with laughter and begging to be let go.

When my younger sister was born my parents gave me a gift “from” her, I think it was a sticker book. I was so excited and impressed that she’d just been born but was already getting me presents :) I also remember thinking she’d be able to ride bikes and play dress up with me right away. I totally didn’t get the whole infant thing.

I have a sister that is 2 years younger than me. When we were kids we played together all the time but as teenagers/pre-teens we just couldn’t get along and I think that was really hard for my mom. Now however she is my closest friend and I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

As far as children of my own, I guess I’ll have to find a husband first ;) But I’d never want to just have one if I could help it, it’s just the greatest gift ever to have a sibling!