Last week we touched on gifts as a Love Language and how knowing that about your child can help on those moments of anxiety. Today we are going to talk about Acts of Service – how to recognize it and how to use it to manage anxious moments.
A child with acts of service as their Love Language (Gary Chapman) will light up when others do things for them. Maybe it’s cleaning their room for them one day or making them a special snack after school when they are used to making snack themselves.
Unlike some of the previous Love Languages, a child that has anxious tendencies will not expect everyone to do everything for them, but they will feel reassured when others do. Often capable children will ask for someone to get them a glass of water or get their clothes for them in the morning when anxious feelings are spiking. This is not necessarily them being lazy, but finding a way to feel loved in their own way.
When you know your
child is getting anxious feelings this could be the time to do a little
more for them and help them out a bit more than usual.
Doing acts
of service to connect with them during highly anxious times won’t
eliminate the anxious feelings altogether, but will provide a
distraction, a redirection and will fill their love bucket.
This concludes our discussions on anxiety and how it may show up in different children as well as how parents can be empowered to help their child through it.