What Do I Like About You?

They do not love that do not show their love. 
 -William Shakespeare 
"What do you like about her?"
"She pushes me on the swings and loves me."
"What do you like about him?"
"I like playing on the trampoline with him."
"What do you like about this sister?"
"She plays Santa with me."
"What do you like about Dad?"
"He helps me and plays games a lot."
 At #LightTheWorld, a children’s daily service calendar is offered as a Christmas countdown activity. On this day, the children were to write three things they liked about each person in the family and hang up the list for all to see.
Thirty six qualities for people just learning to spell and write was a daunting project, so we decided to write one thing about each person. I was the scribe for my 5 and 4-yr-old sons. The experience was most enlightening. 
Whereas my older children could pinpoint abstract characteristics like being thoughtful or hard-working, my younger children consistently listed off concrete activities that they loved to DO with each person.
"He makes pancakes with me."
"She plays catch with me."
"I like to eat spaghetti with him."
"She takes me on horse rides."
So what did I learn?
Well, not all teens are not like this, but my teenagers follow me around as I work so they can talk. It is very important for them to have an engaged listener and to be understood. I need to improve a lot in this area.
My elementary and preschool-aged children always ask me to stop what I am doing and PLAY with them. I also need to improve a lot in this area, especially now that I can see the reason behind the request. To them, play=love. 
A quote by Thomas S. Monson comes to mind: "Never let a problem to be solved (like the present household task) become more important than a person to be loved." [Parentheses words added by Suzanne.]

What do I like about you? What we play together, how we play together. That's what I will remember, Mom/Dad/Sister/Brother/Aunt/Uncle/Grandparent/Friend.