Today is Hug Your Kids Day and it’s a global, year-round movement, encouraging parents to hug their kids and spouse/ partner every day.
Held on the third Monday of July, it encourages parents to hug their family every day.
Hug Your Kids Day was founded in 2008 by Michelle Nichols, a 25-year sales and business veteran, whose son, Mark, died suddenly at age 8 1/2 from brain cancer in 1998.
Nichols speaks to companies to help their employees be successful at work, family, and life - and it all starts with a hug. "Hugs are fast, free and non-fattening," she says. "A good hug can make your day."
It’s proven that kids who are hugged often are very expressive and warm, while those who aren’t hugged very much or aren’t shown affection by their family usually grow up putting a distance between themselves and other people.
Hugging shows a child you love them. It’s a gesture of affirmation, appreciation, and acknowledgement.
A child who is hugged often has positive self-esteem, where a child who is hug-starved or doesn’t receive any other form of affirmation at home will likely start asking, “Am I loved?”
Children who grow up in hugging households are equipped with emotional skills that make it easier to have healthy interpersonal relationships. In fact, hugging and other forms of touch therapy are employed by child experts to help abused children recuperate from emotional trauma. Touch therapy is used a lot, especially with children who have been abused.
Hug therapy, can in some cases helps restore a child’s ability to cope, to trust in people again, and to emotionally express him or herself – factors necessary in forging healthy intimate relationships as an adult.
And how about kids who are bullies? Not every bully is a bully because they’re not hugged – but being hugged every day could definitely help in the way they treat others.
When I speak with parent in New York and all over the country, we always talk about the importance of hugging kids every day.
New York moms Marcia Stein and Bardi Candiss told me that they don't let a day go by without hugging their children.
Parents should hug their kids daily!
You’ll be surprised at what a hug can do:
It opens up the doors of communication.
It affirms love and acceptance.
It builds self-esteem.
It bridges generation gaps.
It heads off potential conflicts.
It makes people less defensive.
It shows kindness and compassion.
It demonstrates respect and value.
It sets an example of patience and tolerance.
It rejuvenates your day.
It makes being a parent all worthwhile.
HUG YOUR CHILD TODAY AND EVERYDAY!
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Ross Ellis is also the Examiner for:
NY Parenting Issues
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NY Domestic Violence and Abuse
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Comments
Hug everyone in your life ever day! Great idea and great article. Thank you.
Thanks for helping to spread the word about Global Hug Your Kids Day. I founded the holiday in 2008. We were in 28 states in 2009 and spread to the Philippines in 2010.
It's such a basic but powerful message. I was being interviewed on TV and the newscaster asked, "So what happens on your holiday?" I told her to stand up - and I hugged her. Her jaw dropped, but that's the point. Check out hugyourkidsday dotcom.
Keep hugging your kids, spouse and loved ones!
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