Making a Heart to Heart Connection With Your Kids-Session 1
Making Heart Connections with Your Kids
1. MAKING A HEART TO HEART
CONNECTION WITH YOUR KID
SESSION 3-RELATIONSHIP &
LOVE LANGUAGES
2. Summary of Prior Sessions
Mission Statement-What’s your bottom-line?
We’ve developed a parenting mission
statement with the following keys:
Love/Relationship
Freedom
Moving from external control to self-c0ntrol
Moving from total dependence to independence
Choices
3. Summary of Prior Sessions
Strategy Development
Shifting from the Disrespect Factory to the Honor
Factory
4. Summary of Prior Sessions
Strategy Development
Keys to shifting
You’re the model
You’re powerful! You must control you no matter what
your child does-disrespect, emotional outbursts, &
other crisis!
Communicate with your kids
Include your kids into the process
5. Session 3-Relationship &
Love Languages
Let’s Talk About Love
The 5 Love Languages
What’s Your Love Language?
Making It Real for You!
Wrap Up
6. Let’s Talk About Love
What is love?
A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for
a parent, child, or friend.
Sexual passion or desire.
What are some qualities/characteristics of love? (Examples
provided by class participants)
Never ending, unconditional
A choice to keep “on”
Willing to be vulnerable
Sacrificing
Accepting
Patient
Kind
7. Let’s Talk About Love
Do You Really Need Love?
Abraham Maslow
Psychologist
8. Let’s Talk About Love
What happens when we are loved?
Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain,
increases.
You are more motivated/courageous
Physically more healthy
Improves our mood-we are happier!
Improves our ability to learn
Reduces anxiety
Calms & eliminates fear
Creates a pathway for the best in us to show up
9. Let’s Talk About Love
What happens when we don’t get love?
Babies who are not held & touched have vastly
different hormone levels
Stress hormones are elevated
Social bonding & emotion hormones were
depressed for extended periods.
Physically & emotionally develop slower than
babies that are held & touched
10. Let’s Talk About Love
People who are not loved start developing unhealthy
behavior patterns to compensate.
Act irresponsibly in a desperate attempt to get attention.
Attention is a poor substitute for love but it seems better than
nothing at all.
Develop physical symptoms that bring us sympathy and
concern.
The symptoms cause us genuine pain, but the pain of sickness
is more bearable than the pain of admitting that nobody cares.
Angrily lash out at those whom we think should care or try
to run away from them and hide.
In either case, we are trying to protect ourselves from the hurt
they are causing us by their lack of concern and love.
11. Let’s Talk About Love
In order for a car to function
properly you need to fill its In order for people to
tank with gas. function properly they need
to fill their tank with love.
12. Let’s Talk About Love
Where’s Your Love Tank?
Full Tank
We feel safe and secure.
We have the ability to reach our full potential
We have the energy and patience to give love to those
around us.
Empty Tank
We feel empty, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, sad, you
name it
We act out of how we feel, and treat others the same,
which can ultimately decrease their love tanks too.
13. Where’s Your Love Tank?
Make a mental image of a love tank
Where would you rate your love tank?
Where would you rate the love tanks of people
around you?
14. The 5 Love Languages
Developed by Dr. Gary Chapman
Identified a pattern:
Everyone he counseled had a primary way of
expressing and interpreting love or a love
language.
He also discovered people are usually drawn to
those who speak a different love language than
their own.
15. The 5 Love Languages
Five love languages proved to be universal
Everyone has a love language
We primarily identify with one of the five love
languages:
Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch.
16. What’s Your Love Language?
Assessments
Singles
Wives
Husbands
Teens
Children
Each assessment consists of 30 pair of
statements. Circle the one statement that best
represents your preference.
Once you’ve completed all 30, count the number
of times you circled each individual letter & write
in the appropriate blank at the end of the profile.
17. The 5 Love Languages-Words
of Affirmation
Unsolicited compliments mean the world to you.
Actions don’t always speak louder than words.
Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important—
hearing the reasons behind that love sends your
spirits skyward.
Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily
forgotten.
18. The 5 Love Languages-
Quality Time
Nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided
attention.
Being there for this type of person is critical, but really
being there—with the TV off, fork and knife down, and
all chores and tasks on standby—makes your
significant other feel truly special and loved.
Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen
can be especially hurtful.
19. The 5 Love Languages-
Receiving Gifts
Don’t mistake this love language for materialism; the
receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and
effort behind the gift.
If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows
that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized
above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you.
A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift
would be disastrous—so would the absence of everyday
gestures.
20. The 5 Love Languages-
Acts of Service
Can raking leaves really be an expression of love?
Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of
responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will
speak volumes.
The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for
you.”
Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for
them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t
matter.
21. The 5 Love Languages-
Physical Touch
A person whose primary language is Physical
Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy.
Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful
touches on the arm, shoulder, or face—they can all be
ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love.
Physical presence and accessibility are crucial,
while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and
destructive.
22. Making It Real For You!
Words of
Affirmation
Acts of
Service
Love Quality
Time
Receiving
Gifts
Physical
Touch
23. Making It Real for You
How often do you focus on your child’s love tank? How successful have you been
at keeping it filled?
What are some of the things that can cause one’s tank to dry up?
Of all the times you have felt love for, or expressed love to your child, have there
been occasions when that expression of love was conditional – that is, based on
something she or he did, rather than who she or he is? Do you ever express love
“just because?”
Share a time when your love toward your children has come across as
conditional. What do you do in those times you may not “like” your child very
much? How can we learn to love our kids unconditionally—and act that out?
What are some things you could do over the next week to fill up that tank?
How did your parents fill your emotional love tank – or not? What can you learn
from your childhood experience as you seek to love your own child?
How do you respond when your child makes a mistake?
How could you respond when your child makes a mistake that lowers their
anxiety & fear?
24. Making It Real For You
Physical Touch
Were your parents physically affectionate – or not? What
effect does this have on you today?
What are some age appropriate forms of physical touch?
Identify opportunities to put these into practice.
Over the next week increase your physical touch with your
children, but make it age-appropriate as well as what fits
each child’s unique personality.
Practical Examples from class participants
Hugs & Kisses
Back rubs & Scratches
High Fives, Fist Bumps
Holding Hands, Arms around shoulders
Safe, fun wrestling & tickling
Manicures & Pedicures
25. Making It Real For You
Words of Affirmation
Think about positive and negative words from your childhood.
What impact did they have, both at the time and over the long
term?
Have you seen a similar impact in your own kids from words
spoken by you or your spouse? How could you make up for
negative or angry words?
Are you comfortable giving & receiving affirming words?
Where does your discomfort come from?
How can you overcome your discomfort to communicate
meaningfully to those you love?
Practical Examples from class participants
Verbal praises & encouraging words
Notes in lunches, backpacks, throughout the house
Cards
Text messages
26. Making It Real For You
Quality Time
How much quality time—that is, time spent with your child
beyond meeting their essential needs—have you given
each of your children during the past week?
Look back over the past month. What got in the way of
spending time with your kids?
What are some ways you could spend quality time with
your kids?
Practical Examples from class participants
Undistracted talking to each other
Playing games together
Shopping
Road trips
Singing, listening to music
27. Making It Real For You
Gifts
Think of a gift you received, either as an adult or a child, that
really meant a lot to you. Why? What does this tell you about
yourself?
Think back carefully to a gift you’ve given with mixed motives (be
honest). Has there ever been a hint of payback, bribery, or even
materialism or personal vanity?
What are some ways we can deal with materialism with our kids?
How can we teach our kids to be generous?
What are some examples of gifts that you could give to your
kids?
Practical Examples provided by class participants
Gum, candy, small things.
Cards
Flowers
28. Making It Real For You
Acts of Service
Do your children ever see you serving someone else beyond
the family?
Do you do “too much” for your kids?
Would your child be better off if you taught him or her
some of these things?
How do your kids respond when you ask them to perform
some act of service? What needs work in this area?
What are examples of appropriate acts of service for our
children? (Examples provided by class participants.)
Helping to do a chore
Cook a favorite meal
Drive them to their friend’s house
Invite your child to invite their friend’s over
30. Wrap Up
We’re shifting to The Honor Factory
Our ability to keep our love “on” &
communicate love in our kids love
language helps to create a safe place
for them to practice making choices &
learn self-control
Share with your kids what you learned
today & your heart
Ask your kid to take the 5 Love Languages
Assessment.
When people are loved & accepted we
create a space for the very best of
them to emerge & for them to discover
who they are & why they are here
To learn more about the 5 Love
Languages visit
http://www.5lovelanguages.com