Knowing your teen’s love language will allow you, as a parent, to speak love effectively into their life.
Talking Points:
- To exercise words of affirmation, a parent speaks encouragement and positive reinforcement to their teen. By speaking Words of Affirmation to them, a teen feels valued, accepted, and most importantly, they loved. Your teen will use this language to express love for you and others.
- Does your teen look for actions they can take to help you or others? Then their primary love language is Acts of Service. They express love and value for others by doing things. If this is your teen’s love language, look for ways you can take actions on their behalf.
- If your teen easily hugs or makes appropriate physical contact, they are displaying to you their primary love language of physical touch. They value a simple touch on the shoulder as a communication that you love and value them.
- Some teens communicate love through giving gifts. These gifts don’t have to be costly but represent the time and thoughtfulness put into the act of gift giving.
- If you find that your teen easily, even eagerly, gives you their undivided attention, then you have discovered their primary love language, quality time. Set aside time regularly, even daily, with a teen that has this love language to give them exclusive attention and that teen will feel treasured and loved.
Discussion:
- Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Take the Love Language Assessment to determine your personal primary Love Language. Did the result surprise you? Explain.
- Share your Love Language Assessment with your teen and solicit their feedback. How engaged were they with you? Explain.
- Get your teen to take the assessment and share it with you. What parts of the results surprised or didn’t surprise you? Explain.
- What steps do you need to take to implement the practice of interacting with your teen using their primary Love Language?
- In what ways has the knowledge and awareness of Love Languages changed you as a parent?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
