I have two kids who will tell me non-stop I love you Miss________to the point that it gets annoying. I mean it's like every 5 minutes.

At first it was very sweet and I would tell them how much I love them too. But now it has turned into an every 5 min thing or every 10-15min thing.

BOth of these kids have very wonderful parents that do a lot with them, spend a ton of time with them, btw they are not related.

It has gotten to the point where now I just say thank you johnny, thank you Billy....

Of course I don't want to stop them from saying it, nor do I want to ignore them, but I also don't want to having to keep hearing it to the point that It gets like this. I do realize that they are doing it for attention.

BTW I hope I dont sound mean or insensitive, I do love these kids very much and really do validate their feelings.

thanks so much for your help in advance.

Reply

Honestly? I'd just give them a hug with no verbal acknowledgement. It seems like they're just trying to engage you constantly.

Reply

I have kiddos that say this and lately they are saying it more and more...I usually just say awww you're so sweet to say that...I feel a little weird? I guess I keep wondering what the DCP's would think about it, do you think it would bother them? On one hand I think they would be happy knowing their kids are so happy being here, but on another hand it just seems so personal? I've been pondering the "I love you" from DCK's over the last few weeks myself!

Reply

One provider I worked for would give almost all of the kids (usually preschoolers and kinders) a hug and a kiss (on the cheek) and tell them that she loves them when they left infront of the parents and they never said anything or showed any uneasiness. Some of the parents would even tell their kids to hug all of their teachers and friends "good-bye" at the end of the day and the kids will literally hunt down all of the DC assistants to give them a hug (I'm not much of a hugger but I will hug kids so they don't feel rejected). It depends on the culture of the families/area. Some parents may have "touchy feely" issues or issues with their children showing affection for another adult; but I think that most parents would think of it as a good sign that you care about the kids and that the kids love you and your program. The kids would even tell the assistants they loved them and we would tell them we loved them too; in this field its usually hard not to love most of the kids you work with almost as if they were your own.

If you have a problem with telling a child you love them you or infront of the parents you can substitute it for "I (care about/like) you too" or make it more casual like "Love ya too, Kiddo" or "Diddo, Kiddo" because you still want to validate their feelings and don't want them to feel bad if you do not respond and some parents may actually have a problem if you don't respond to their child in a similar manner by thinking "My kid told her he loves her but she just brushed him off and ignored him" Its all a catch 22.

For the original question the only thing I can think of if they are older and saying it more than 2 or 3 times that day just saying "I know you do, and I love you too. Lets focus on _____ right now and you can remind me you love me later before you leave" or you can have a lession on other ways to tell or show people you care about them, when to say and do certain things, or a "time and place for everything" or something like that- It's kinda tricky because you don't want to tell them not to tell people they love them; but more about not overdoing it or it will lose meaning- like if they tell everyone they just met they love them all the time, like the checker at the grociery store or the mail man

Reply

I care very deeply for my daycare babies but I don't love them. I also say "Thank you Susie".

Reply

I have a 2 year old who calls me "mom" every 5 seconds. 10 mins after he gets here I am ready for him to leave. I correct him and tell him my name and it does no good. I am mom and his mom is mommy. It's very annoying and its non-stop.

Reply

There was one little girl at a daycare I worked at and she would call the provider and all of the assistants "Mommy"- a total of 4 different women, not including her own mother; she would always say "Thank you, mommy" or "Mommy I need help" (it was kinda cute). She hadn't gone through the Disequalibrium phase yet, so at that point all adult women who worked with children where "Mommy" (Not sure about grandmas and aunts). It's the same as when a child has a dog as a pet first and then everytime they see a furry animal with for legs (like a cat) they say "doggy" until their is something that dogs don't do like meow' and it challenges the child to think "doggies don't meow" and after a few expieriences they realize "thats not a doggie; its a kitty".

Reply

My clients have their children tell me they love me when they leave at night. So, I don't think the parents would be offended.

Reply

I have one that is the same way!!! He is leaving in 1 week.

Reply

I love that they tell me I love you... The parents are not offend by it. It's the every 5-15 minutes that is driving me nuts..

Reply

I have one KG-er who says "You know that?" after EVERYTHING he says and MUST have an acknowledgement......I nod and smile a lot......

Reply