Emotional gifts are a very useful formula for rewarding and making our little ones feel loved and appreciated. These are simple but extremely powerful gestures.
Last update: 08 September, 2020
Today we are going to tell you a short story to convey to you the importance of emotional gifts. Imagine a mother or father who comes home after a day of work and shows up with a small gift for their son. It can be a toy car, a doll, a drawing… Anything.
The parent in question, faced with the child's expression of joy, decides to do the same the next day, so he will return home with a doll or a construction game.
Seeing the happiness of her children in receiving the gift, she decides to repeat more and more often, returning almost every day with a small gift. What could happen in the medium and long term?
The child may get used to and stop giving value to gifts, which is why that action that was previously a source of surprise turns into a habit. Once consolidated, the child he might even get angry the day the parent comes home without a gift.
Do you think this is logical? Could your pockets bear these expenses? Is there room in the house for so many gifts? But why did we talk about emotional gifts at the beginning of this article? We explain it to you in the next lines!
The downside of frequent gifts
For a parent, nothing is like see the smile, the surprise, the gratitude and the enthusiasm on the faces of the children when they get a gift, which doesn't have to be expensive.
In today's society, however, too much importance is given to material goods; often, in fact, we use them to compensate for other shortcomings. What is the risk? Let the child lose his enthusiasm.
To remedy the situation, many education experts recommend emotional gifts. Because? Because children already receive too many material gifts on various occasions, such as birthdays, Christmas, school promotions, etc.
There are so many occasions in which gifts are received and here they stop giving value to these objects. They get used to receiving them, so they begin to understand this action as a norm.
The real value of the toy is lost and you enter a spiral of absurd competition, in which you compete for who has received the most expensive, largest or most technological gift.
"The best gifts are not bought, they are made."
-Gianni Rodari-
Emotional gifts
So what are emotional gifts? These are details that are not material, but capable to remain etched in the memory and conscience of those who offer them and those who receive them, triggering pleasant feelings of affection, tenderness, love, etc. If you want to give your children more emotional gifts, you just have to choose:
- Quality time: one of the most difficult gifts to give to your children. We all live at full speed, on the verge of stress, committed to optimizing our productivity. But what about family time?
Not to mention the time we should devote to ourselves. If you want to give your children a nice gift, spend some time with them having fun, learning from each other and getting to know each other. You will see, it will be an unforgettable gift for everyone.
- A smileIt is often enough to look at the baby and smile. It's a fantastic and contagious gift, as even the little one has fun when he laughs.
- A hug: one of the most beautiful and intense emotional gifts. Skin-to-skin contact, a union of hearts that allows us to show our little ones that we will always be there to protect them, love them and make them feel safe.
- Cards: this is an increasingly less common habit. Leaving a note in a place where the child can easily find it is a wonderful thought; a surprise and a gift that will surely fill him with joy.
- Applause: children need to feel appreciated. Sometimes a simple applause for our little one's business is a wonderful emotional gift in itself.
To conclude
If you want to see the sincere smiles of your children, remember: emotional gifts can become a wonderful opportunity to make people happy your little ones and entertain them.
What do you think? You might try having a little more fun together and spending less on things you don't really need, and that will never feel as good as a hug or a caress.
