christ sometimes I just wanna. steal a time machine & go back & sit down next to my 9-year-old self and just like. let them pull out their pokemon card binder & gush about their holographic gyarados or whatever. I'd just smile & ask questions about motherfukcing bulbasaur & tell my kid self that I thought they were a neat person, & someday they'd find other people who thought so too.
like i'm a grown adult who honestly finds most kids stuff boring, but. damn if i could go back & hang out with my baby self & listen to them ramble...just so they knew someone was listening. i would in a heartbeat. thinking about u kid
lotta people reblogging the tags so:
#wouldn't roll my eyes or check my phone or get bored or nothing. I'd just listen to that little dork & smile & encourage them & let them explain how their favorite gameboy games worked. i was the kind of kid my adult self would find annoying & uninteresting but like...most of the actual adults in my childhood felt that way too. including my dang parents. and ya know sometimes they showed it. a lot of times without realizing it. and that messes a kid up
if you don't make an effort kids will recognize your disinterest and lack of attention. kids deserve to have caregivers who show interest and engagement, even when it's over stuff that adults find boring. especially then maybe. your kid doesn't have to be fun or interesting or easy or well behaved to deserve positive attention. they deserve positive attention because they are YOUR KID. if love is unconditional then DISPLAYS of LOVE and AFFECTION must also be unconditional--not something that must be earned
telling your kid that you love them is not enough. that is step one out of like a thousand. if you just tell your kid you love them but you don't demonstrate affection and interest and patience and warmth and etcetera--your kid isn't gonna feel loved! "I Love You" will just become a trite phrase that they regard with mistrust! bitch you gotta FOLLOW THROUGH!!!
