How Do Children See Love?
“Love is not an emotion, but an impulse, a physiological need for the human being”
This phrase was quoted by the anthropologist Helen Fisher, from Rutgers University (New Jersey), who has been researching love for more than 30 years .
The love that, fortunately, we feel and live, is an impulse that arises when the brain is flooded with phenylethylamine , an amphetamine that the body secretes. Consequently, neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and oxytocin are released.
When we are feeling love our serotonin levels drop and adrenaline is released, increasing our heart rate.
The release and the neurological cocktail of these substances and hormones allow the creation of emotional bonds with the other person, and the precious symptoms of falling in love: our heart races, we begin to feel nervous and perceive the famous butterflies in our stomach.
But now that we are aware of how love works on a biological level in our body, I would like to take a step forward and invite you to fully immerse ourselves in the emotion that it generates about us: an indescribable peace and ecstasy.
For this, what better way than to make us smile with the perception that human beings have of love who are in one of the most sincere and magic stages in our life: childhood.
A group of professionals posed the following question to children between the ages of 4 and 9: “ What does love mean to you? ”As you can imagine, the responses were much deeper and more authentic than now, more adult and mature, you could have imagined:
– Rebecca, 8 years old. “ When my grandmother started having arthritis, she couldn’t bend over, so she couldn’t paint her toenails anymore. Now my grandfather paints them all the time, even when he himself started having arthritis in his hands. That’s love”.
– Billy, 4 years old. “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know your name is safe in his mouth. “
– Terri, 4 years old. “Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.”
– Danny, 7 years old. “Love is when my mom makes my dad a coffee and tastes it before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is right.”
– Emily, 8 years old. “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then you get tired of kissing, but you still want to be with the other person and then they talk more. My mom and dad are like that. They look horrible when they kiss. “
– Bobby, 7 years old. ” Love is what is present in your house at Christmas, you just have to stop opening gifts and listen to it.”
– Nikka, 6 years old. “If you want to learn to love better, then you should start by loving someone you hate.” It is impressive how this girl can provide us with such immense learning and with greater awareness than many adults around us. Are you agree?
– Noelle, 7 years old. “Love is when you tell a child that you like his shirt and then he wears it every day.”
– Tommy, 6 years old. “Love is like a couple of old men who are still friends after knowing each other well.”
– Cindy, 8 years old. “When I was at my piano recital, I stood on stage and was scared. Then I looked at all the people in the audience and saw my dad smiling and greeting me. He was the only one who was doing that, and after seeing him my fear passed ”.
– Elaine, 5 years old. “Love is when my dad gives my mom the best part of the chicken.”
– Chris, 7 years old. “Love is when my mom sees my dad all sweaty and smelly and still says he’s more handsome than George Clooney.”
– Lauren, 4 years old. “I know my older sister loves me, because she gives me all her old clothes and then she has to buy new clothes.”
– Karen, 7 years old. “When you love someone you start to move your eyelashes and stars come out from within you”.
– Mark, 6 years old. “Love is when my mom sees my dad in the bathroom and doesn’t think he’s gross.”
– Jessica, 8 years old. “You should never say ‘I love you’ if you don’t mean it. But if you feel it, you should say it many times because people forget it ”.
– Mary Ann, 4 years old. “Love is when your dog licks your face after having left him alone all day.”
