MY CHILD, MY VAL.

Love is in the air. Everybody loooves love and so we are all, at least most of us (especially the lovers) are anxious for February 14 to just come already.

I understand that this is a period particularly for lovers. But somehow, it's making me think of love in its very many aspects. After all someone once sang that love is a many splendored thing. Currently I am thinking of the love between parent and child, and how it affects all the other loves.


Someone once defined being loved as being greatly valued by another person: and I totally agree. It's because I agree with this definition that I hiss whenever I hear people debating whether they prefer to be loved or they prefer to be respected. So we can say that one great characteristic of love is that you respect and treasure the object of your love. You do not love or greatly value someone and put them down. Love and reproach don't work together.

The love a parent shows his or her child will go a long way n shaping that child mentally,emotionally, and otherwise. (I do not speak as a parent as I am not one. I speak as a child who can tell the effects of parental love from the stand point of a recipient).

You see that your teenage son or daughter : if there's one time they need to see how much you greatly love them more, it's at this teenage stage of their lives. I have been a teenager before, so I know.

At this stage, the child is more aware of himself. It's why she pays more attention to her looks. It's why your teenage daughter spends more time in front of a mirror. It's not a sin of moral decadence o. Your child (especially the female) wants to feel beautiful and important. So very much.

This is why a girl who has been reproached repeatedly, by her parents for being 'too fat' or 'too thin', or is constantly compared unfavorably to her siblings, is a sitting duck, an easy prey for useless boys looking for girls to play with like toys.

At a program for singles I attended ten years ago, the speaker made a very profound statement which I totally agree with. She said while a man's primary sexual organ is his eyes, for a lady, it's her ears. We can see why the guys who have girls swooning over them are mainly those who know just how to talk to and yes, flatter a lady.

Just close to where I live is a hotel. And like most times, I know I will be seeing very young people hugging and kissing just in front of the hotel, as per val things. Some of your teens will be preparing to sneak out of the house for that special night parry with one small boy who told her he loves her and she's the best thing since sliced bread.

Dear parents, everything is not morals o. Everything is not 'read your Bible, read your books, and pray o'. SOMETIMES that teen's promiscuity, running around with that boyfriend is a search for love, for someone who makes them feel like they matter. The need to feel that we matter and we are loved is a very deep-seated one. And sometimes we will spread out our hands to get it...or our legs.

He may not be as smart as you like, she may not be as beautiful, as slim or as chubby as her siblings, but they are YOUR CHILDREN. They are worthy. They are useful. They are beautiful. Because they are handcrafted by Jehovah God Himself. They deserve your love.

The temptation to explore their sexuality before the right time is strong enough, even for a child with a healthy, balanced sense of self and a heavy dose of parental love. It's worse for a child who already is coming out of home with a battered sense of self and body image.

Love your child. Go out of your way to show you love them this season.

Your love can be their shield.