Quick - call Doctor Hug!

I tried it once and Curly looked at me as if I was spitting fire...we'll wait until after his nap.

Simple As That: The Emergency Hug
from Simple Kids by Megan

Photo by GoonSquadSarah

As you may have guessed from the article I wrote earlier this year on how to be intentional with touch, one of the primary ways I give and receive love is through affection.

I wanted to share something with you today that my mother created when we were children. It’s so simple yet so effective when you need a time-out from the moment to reconnect with your child. My mother called it “an emergency hug.”

I can remember when we were kids, my mom would just call to one of the four of us and say, “I need an emergency hug!” We would stop whatever we were doing and run to my mother’s open arms. It is one of the sweetest memories of my childhood, and it’s something I’ve started doing with my own daughters.

I find myself asking for emergency hugs from my daughters when I’m a little stressed out and need to recenter on the essentials of life. Sometimes I request an emergency hug when I’m just overcome with joy and wonder with the blessings they are to me. Still other times, I’ll tell one of them “Hey! I need an emergency hug!” when I can see their disposition or mood spinning out into negativity.

Without any prompting or instruction, our almost five year old daughter has also begun asking for “emma-gancy” hugs, which makes my mama heart so happy.