I Love You Rituals

I've recommended this book to all of my mom friends with toddlers. My two and three year old love these songs and rhymes with the accompanying hand motions that we do together. They ask to do these "rituals" over and over, and we always end up laughing and smiling together. This is such a helpful book for creating little moments of connection and play throughout the day. Highly recommend.

My children just adore the I Love You Rituals that we do. Even if we are at a crowded place and we can't hear each other, the I Love You Rituals come in quite handy!

When I received this book and read the ideas, I thought they sounded great for very young children, but doubted I could use them with my 8 and 9yo. I thought they would see it as "babyish" and silly......but I gave a few of them a go, and they absolutely loved them! And asked for more and more! I think these are great for the older kids like my foster kids, who missed out on that kind of interaction when they were little. I am enjoying it, and so are the kids....I will do a couple each day till I become more familiar and can do them without the book.

is something I hear just about every day. My six and three year old love - absolutely love - the finger plays and songs from this book. The negative, frightening themes from nursery rhymes are removed and replaced with loving positive words and images. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe becomes: There was a wonderful woman who lived in a shoe She had so many children she knew exactly what to do She fed them and hugged them and tucked them in bed I love you, I love you is what she said. that's just one short snip of a book chock full of ideas surrounding saying goodbye, reconnecting when picking up (after school, playdates, overnights etc). There are little rituals for birthdays, bedtimes, transitional times (think new baby). I just can't say enough positive things about this book. When my kids are or I am in a funk and we're both being oppositional, this reconnects us. Connected people *want* to cooperate. Connected people *want* to be a part of the family. Connected people *want* to help. It just can turn things around for us in an instant. while this was the first Becky Baily item I bought, she's since become my favorite parenting author. I found _Easy to Love, Dificult to Discipline_ a bit of a bore to read (and I can usually slog through anything), so I bought all 11 of her CD's (her lectures on CD) from beckybailey.com They've been nothing short of incredible. oh, and I strongly disagree with the person who mentioned that 'it's too specific' and only for families who foster or adopt. I really can't imagine why it would only be for those situations. It would work for anyone: parent of bio children, adopted children, foster children....teachers and theirstudents.. ...grandparents.. ...babysitters. anyone who wants to help kids feel connected and loved.

This is a delightful book full of activities and games that involve touch, with the goal of bringing adult and child closer together in a warm, healthy relationship. It also serves as a terrific reminder that children and the time spent with them are ultimately more important than our busy schedules and to-do lists. The easy-to-read format, with its large print and animated illustrations, makes it inviting.