Monday, April 9, 2012

The 5 Love Languages of Children - ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!!!!

Can I just tell you that I'm SUPER excited to be doing a review and giveaway for THIS AMAZING BOOK! I absolutely loved this book and I'm so excited to be sharing it with you! I think ever single parent needs a copy of The 5 Love Languages of Children by Dr. Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell... really, it's that good. I know that the information presented in this book can change the way parents relate to their children. How awesome is that!?!

Now for some info:

"To be their best, children need to feel loved. But if you and your child speak different love languages, your affection might get lost in translation, affecting the child’s attitude, behavior, and development. Dr. Gary Chapman’s groundbreaking Five Love Languages series has helped millions of couples communicate love more clearly, and Dr. Ross Campbell M.D. has applied the innovative system to children as well. The 5 Love Languages of Children gives practical suggestions for learning how your children interpret love and creating a sense of security in which they can thrive."

I will say it again, I LOVED THIS BOOK. Actually, I think of it more as a resource. What great information it has on helping parents to understand the love languages of their children. This is so important to me, as a mom. I want to be able to relate the best way that I can with each of my 3 kiddos - all whom are SO different. Determining their love language, or way that they most receive and give love, is so important because it will help me to better reach inside their little hearts and love them the best way that I can. In the first chapter it says, "So to reach them, you must love on their terms." I love that! We need to figure out how to love on their terms... how to best show love to them in a way that they will receive it best!

My youngest daughter, although only just shy of her 3rd birthday, definitely has a love language of physical touch. Although the book shares that you really can't start to really determine a child's love language until around the age of 5 (because younger children love in all 5 ways all the time), I know my sweet girl has a ton of physical touch in her :) She's the only one who wants to be held and cuddled and hugged and kissed ALL. THE. TIME. Reading this book was fun in that I was able to learn more about how to relate to her through her love language. It was also fun thinking through what my other two sweet kiddos might be strong in. I can't wait until they are a little older to really determine what the predominant love language is... and then to see what comes as the secondary.

I loved many things about this book. The first being that the chapters were broken down by love language : Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, Acts of Service. I am a very visual person, and I love examples and "how-to's" so this book was perfect for me. There were lots of stories to illustrate each love language, and there were many practical points at the end of each chapter of what to do if your child demonstrates a strong language of ______. I love that part because I can look back and get great new ideas on how to show love to my child in his / her particular language. Each chapter also shares things on what might be negative to a child with a particular love language.

Another concept that I love about the book is the idea of your child's love tank being filled. This concept played into many parts of the book ranging from discipline to learning. It was interesting to see the correlation between an "empty tank" and discipline issues or learning problems.

This book is more than just a book to me... it's a resource. I know that all of my highlighting will come in handy over time as I go back through and re-read particular parts. It seems so easy to love our children, right?! Well, it is but we need to remember that our children all give and receive love in different ways. If we can figure out those ways and learn to show love to them in the way that they best receive it, it will be even better!

The last thing that I want to mention (although I could write about the book for an hour) is the game in the back. It's best suited for children 5 and above but it's a great tool for determining your child's primary and secondary language. Make it fun :) Who doesn't want to learn to better love their children!

All in all, I give this book a 10 thumbs up... well, if I had 10 thumbs that is! For now, I'll give it MY TWO! Every parent needs a copy of this book! So.....

One person will be winning a copy at the end of this week!!!!!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog and tell me one of the many tangible ways that you show love to your children! Drawing will end on Sunday, April 15th, and the winner will be chosen randomly by random.org on Monday April 16th!!! Here we go....

Required fine print: “Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

6 comments:

Jennifer Busby said...

I gives lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles. Both of my kids like to be close with my arms around them.

Jenny Amias said...

One on one time with each of my kids is very special to each of them. I've taken (and had Caleb take) the quiz online to see what their love languages are. Playing games and Legos with Caleb is something he enjoys tremendously. Anna loves to snuggle in a chair and read.

Lindy said...

Kelsi just loves my attention so whether I play with her, read to her or cuddle that's how I show love to her, by making her know that she is important and that I love to spend time with her! Though reading books and cuddling is our favorite activity! ;)

Nicole said...

One thing we do is date nights. The boys love one on one time with us so we try to make special time for that so we can focus on just them for awhile. Otherwise I love to play with them and I am one mean Bionicle builder:)

KatieHanner said...

For Abbie, it's definitely one on one time...she loves our Mommy dates. But as she's gotten older, I've seen how words of encouragement--written ones, mean so much to her!

Jamie Daily said...

I enjoy the quality time we spend together before nap/bedtime. We read books, sing songs, dance to music, just act silly, and pray together.