101 Ways to Tell Your Child "I Love You" [Hardcover]

Vicki Lansky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1988

• A special "Welcome Home" banner after the first day of school
• Red paper hearts hung in the bedroom doorway
• Surprise messages in unexpected places
• Fancy-named kisses, such as "a double chocolate chip" or "a whipped cream mocha."

Vicki Lansky's bestselling books include Feed Me, I'm Yours, The Taming of the C.A.N.D.Y. Monster, and the Practical Parenting Series, which together have sold more than three million copies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809245272
• ISBN-13: 978-0809245277
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 5.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,354,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Feed Me I'm Yours, my first book, began as a local fund raising cookbook in 1974 and turned me into an author. I thought it was the only book I'd ever write and then for a while, I thought that each new book would be my last. Was I wrong!

Along the way I also became a publisher. Feed Me I'm Yours was first published from my husband's and my home on Meadowbrook Lane (i.e., Meadowbrook Press). Our company grew very fast as we learned the publishing business. After our divorce 8 years later, I left Meadowbook Press with no plans of being a publisher again. However, as the books I wrote for others went out of print, I established my own imprint, Book Peddlers, which now publishes over half of my 30 titles...including (naturally) Vicki Lansky's Divorce Book for Parents.

When you write parenting books, everyone glances critically at your children. Thank goodness mine had the good grace to turn out well. Despite my mistakes (and they'll be the first to point them out) my thirty-something twosome have survived and thrived in spite of having had a "professional" mother. Lucky me!

I think my mother would be astonished to know that I give out cleaning and household advice to millions of people as a columnist for Family Circle magazine. After all, she 'not I' had made a career of homemaking. In 1988, when Family Circle asked me to be a contributing editor to their "Help" column, I was delighted. This would be a place for me to share "grown-up" tips. I was now moving beyond the days of needing to know that peanut butter removes gum from children's hair!

Writing about household hints has been more of an education than I ever dreamt. I'm often asked what my favorite tip is. Usually it's the one I've not heard before, which is what keeps my work so interesting. My books on Baking Soda tips and Vinegar tips have sold in the hundreds of thousands copies. Amazing. How lucky I am to be able to share so many helpful ideas...and it is good, clean FUN too.

I'm not sure of my next projects as I've decided to cut back a bit on my book life and work a little more on just my life. But I'm never far from my computer and I know there are idea gremlins scrambling around my brain waiting to escape. Stay tuned.....

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touch Their Hearts, December 11, 2002

By 

"mrsfaganselves" (huntington, ny United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Ways to Tell Your Child "I Love You" (Hardcover)

For the brain dead, for those who need to practice for spontaneous moments, for those who just need one more little idea because the well has run dry, this little book is a nifty package of ideas on how to let a child know that he is loved.

I don't mock this book, 101 Ways to Tell Your Child 'I Love You' because it is pretty handy. (I put myself in the second category, those who need to practice spontaneity). Neither do I make fun who might find the book useful because we could all use a new idea occasionally. I suspect there are many people who don't need this advice on a day-to-day basis, though may occasionally just be stumped for a new idea, but for the rest of us, the book offers its promised 101 tips of sending an unmistakable message of love to a child (and could be adapted for grown-up children, I think.)

Aside from the good ideas, the major strength of this book is that it doesn't lecture but instead delivers ideas in very short doses, one or two sentences at the most, an idea per page, with easy-to-do suggestions. Some require a little more effort than others, such as preparing "coupons" for a hug or a kiss, but most are extremely easy to do, and require only a moment or two of time, and the desire to show love.

There is something for everyone here, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, stay-at-homes or career parents, or anyone who wants to deliver the message to a child. Not every idea will be of interest to every person, but even a handful of them, tried occasionally or often, will help a child get the word.

Here are just a few:

See how many words you and your child can make from the letters I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.

Leave surprise love notes in unexpected places, such as the bathroom mirror or the front door.

Mail a letter or a card to your child, even if you haven't gone away. Getting mail is a special event for children.

Go for a walk in the moonlight, or in a new snowfall or even a warm summer rain.

Make a heartshaped I LOVE YOU puzzle. Write your message of love on the cardboard and then cut it into pieces so your child can put it back together.

Wake your child with a kiss.

Let your child "accidentally" overhear you singing their praises to others. (My daughter pretends to object to this, claiming she hates it when parents talk about their children with other parents, but, luckily for me, I see the secret smile of pleasure.)

And, the clincher: Make a will naming a guardian or executor. It is the most loving and thoughtful thing you can do for a child.

I've personally tried many of these, and found them hugely helpful when just a simple "I love you" isn't enough. Some I'd actually thought of myself!!--such as making up a simple song featuring her name or going for a walk in the rain or moonlight.

She quickly caught on to one little ritual I started, which was to list two or three or four things I loved about her, or that she had done especially well, each night as I tucked her in. Very soon my list was interrupted with, "And what else?" "And what else?"

Kids love love is the message I take from that. It's so simple. Offer this book to anyone who has, or once was, a child.

4.0 out of 5 stars 101 ways to show love to your child, January 30, 2009

By 

B. C. Slavin "Child Advocate" (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 101 Ways to Tell Your Child "I Love You" (101 Ways (Book Peddlers)) (Paperback)

I always enjoy any books written by Vicki Lansky, but I am just a bit perturbed that a tiny little book costs $8.95 plus tax....she does offer words of widsom in dealing with children, and she is a well-respected author of self-help books about helping children cope with divorce.

5.0 out of 5 stars An ideal gift for a new parent and a welcome addition to any family with children of any age, November 13, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Ways to Tell Your Child "I Love You" (101 Ways (Book Peddlers)) (Paperback)

The best thing a parent can do to insure an emotionally health child grows up to be an emotionally healthy adult is to consistently and continually express affection for that child in both word and deed. That's the basic premise for Vicki Lansky's "101 Ways To Tell Your Child "I Love You", a small volume ideas and encouragements ranging from waking up a child with a kiss, to cuddling with a child and a good book, to bringing home to a child a small token such as a flower. Enhanced with some 'fill in the blank' redeemable 'Love Coupons', "101 Ways To Tell Your Child "I Love You" is an ideal gift for a new parent and a welcome addition to any family with children of any age. Also highly recommended for parents are Vicki Lansky's previous titles including "Feed Me! I'm Yours", "Practical Parenting Tips For The First Five Years", "Toilet Training: A Practical Guide to Daytime And Nighttime Training", "Baby Proofing Basics", and "Games Babies Play".