My 6yo will randomly come up to me and kiss my cheek and say she loves me. For no reason at all. Especially if I'm stressed or tired. It's like she just knows, she's caring. My 2yo will randomly run at me and throw her arms around my neck for a cuddle and a kiss. When I collect her from nursery or even I'm Gone a matter of 5 minutes she will be so soooo excited to see me, the biggest genuine smile at the sight of me, thats absolutely priceless
I'm praised a lot for their lovely manners and natures.
Things I do... I tell them very often that I love them, random kisses, random cuddles. I give a lot of praise, show exaggerated interest in all the small things they show me or speak about (even if it's been said 8065778 times already that hour), I make their favourite dinners, give emotional support and spend time helping my eldest navigate and work out how to deal with the playground/classroom dramas. I give boundaries and consequences, they don't like it but it's good for them, they know where they stand with me, they feel secure. I admit when I've done wrong, eg if we've had a very stressful day and they've blown my last nerve playing me up I can end up shouting, then I feel terrible and I apologise, we have a big cuddle and move on. In some ways I think that teaches that nobody is perfect and it's ok to make a mistake.
I try my best. Im a single parent so it all comes down to me. I'm not perfect and some days I get it wrong and feel horribly guilty about it.But we're all human. They're loved and they know damn sure they are loved.
Parenting is bloody hard!!