Love is a Safety Net!
Who doesn't love a trip to the circus? The performing animals dancing around the ring. The clowns juggling and running around while throwing pies in each other's faces. Then, there are the trapeze artists who swing through the air, performing death-defying flips, all while they are dozens of feet off the ground. It takes great courage for the trapeze artists to do their work. They need to trust that as they are flying through the air that their partner will swing in to catch them before they can fall. Luckily, as an added measure of security, the trapeze artists have a safety net below to catch them should they fall. In our own families, trust is essential and is the foundation of our relationships with our loved ones. We take leaps of faith when we reach out to our loved ones and ask for their help, guidance, and support. Even though we may be afraid of disappointing our loved ones and falling, we can always rely on one fact: that there is an ever-present safety net of love that will be there to catch us if we fall.
In their article, "Creating Healthy Ties With In-Laws and Extended Families", James M. Harper and Susan Frost Olsen touch on important principles that help build family relations. They explain that "Parents who try to create a climate of safety in which children can express their feelings...will have the greatest potential for positive influence in their children's and grandchildren's lives" (329). As parents, we need to build our homes and individual relationships with our children on a foundation of love. Children grow up and become independent; they make their own choices in life, both good and bad ones. Children have moments when they achieve greatness and they swell with pride for their accomplishments. There are also times when they make mistakes and feel remorse, anger, and shame for what they did. The roller coaster of life will take them up and down, but as our children know that their parents love them, then they will be willing to come to us for support.
Love goes beyond word and feelings; one of the greatest ways to show love is through our actions. It's like the great English poet William Shakespeare said "They do not love that do not show their love". Actions that demonstrate love are powerful because they allow our children to see and feel our love for them. These gestures of love do not have to be complicated. Hugs, attending your children's extracurricular activities, going out on family outings are just a few of the many ways we can show our love for our children.
I firmly believe that loving our children is the important lesson we can teach them and the most important thing we can do for them. By setting up the safety net of love, we are creating a safe environment for them and securing a safe future for them. If we set up the safety net of love, then we are teaching our children how important love is for a family to stick together and trust one another. Then, our children will be more likely to follow our examples and set up their own safety nets for their own families.
