Falling in love is magical. Really. Sharing your life with that special someone can give you the strength and confidence to do anything.

But what is love? The whole idea of love seems more confusing today than ever before. So defining it is no easy task.

But if you’re a toddler parent then you think about this question regularly. Love is one of the first abstract ideas children desire to understand.

“What is love?”
“Can you bring me more love?”
“Where does love come from?”

These questions are among the many that kids ask.

But there’s so much more to love than falling in it. It has many forms. Instead of defining love, teach kids love. Avoid all the fluffy, confusing weirdness associated with explaining love to kids. When they see it, and experience it for themselves they will understand what love really is.

Teach your kids how to do these things:

1. Love People
This can be really hard. Sure, it’s easy for kids to love their parents and their siblings (even when they argue), but to love all people? Now that’s a challenge! People can be selfish and untrustworthy, but we should teach our kids to love them anyway. Take them to food pantries so they can volunteer, invite them along for a post house-fire cleanup. Do this even when they’re really young. You won’t have to say much because you know that warm, satisfying feeling you get when you help others? Yeah, kids get that feeling too. People make the world go ‘round, and we love them.

2. Love Animals
Show your children that love should be extended to all living creatures. If you have a pet this will be really easy for you. Bathe your pet regularly, feed it, play with it, and cuddle it. If you don’t have pets, take your kids to an animal shelter that welcomes volunteers to help clean kennels. Go to a petting zoo and show your kids how to gently pet the animals and feed it right from their little hands. The simplicity of making an animal happy will allow your little ones to experience a very pure form of love. Animals are our friends, and we love them.

3. Love Mother Earth
Our beautiful planet is full of so many wonders. It provides food, shelter, material for building and other projects, and scenes more magnificent than we could imagine. Teach kids how to love our planet by going for walks with bags to pick up trash. Show them how to sort recyclable materials and explain to them why we recycle. By learning to love Mother Earth our children will find it easier to love animals and other people. Our planet sustains life, and we love it.

4. Love Your Home
You should love your home. Whether it’s a house, a trailer, an RV, an apartment, etc. Love where you live and teach your kids to do the same. Encourage your kids to help you tidy up and keep your home clean. Talk to them about the importance of maintaining everything in your home. Repair damages, change lightbulbs, clean up messes, etc. in a timely manner. Our home is our sanctuary from the world, and we love it.

5. Love Work
We spend a great amount of time working so we should teach our children to love their job and the opportunity to have a job. Give your little ones a handful of jobs (chores) that should be completed every day. Every time they complete one, highlight the fact that their room looks so good now that it’s clean, their books are beautifully displayed now that they’re straightened up, etc. Work is rewarding, and we love it.

6. Love Your Things
Now I’m definitely not going to say that material possessions hold more value than people and relationships. However, once we have taken the time to carefully choose a new sweater, coffee pot, or other thing we should take care of it. Teach your children to love their things and toys by taking care of them. When their toys break repair them, don’t replace them. We take time to choose things that make us happy, and we love them.

7. Love Yourself
Self-love and self-respect are qualities our children absolutely must have. Teach your kids to love themselves by allowing them to say no thank you when they don’t want to play with the neighbor or don’t want another one of your grandmother’s cookies. Teach them the power of affirmations. Have them look in the mirror and say, “I am strong, I am smart, I am worthy.” Our children are perfect, and they should love themselves.

By teaching children these seven lessons, they will better understand love and its many forms. They will understand that there is so much more to love than finding “someone special.”