To ask why nobody mentions how much love there is?

[Furbfurbfurb]

In families. The joy on your kids faces, the days out, the laughter, the closeness and love?

The little joys and challenges and fun. I know it can be hard as well but here’s a thread to celebrate all the lovely buts.

What lovely things happened to you today?

Lovely bits!!!! Argh!

My kids brought me breakfast in bed. It was onion ring crisps on a bowl but it’s the thought that counts 😂

My child asked me if anything good is happening at work today. She's 9
It sounds silly and little but I thought it was lovely actually. That she'd thought to ask and took an interest.

Love this 😊

"I love you, mama", as she clings onto my arm. Just bring joy to my heart, just to be so loved with no expectation to return it, no drama, no chance of betrayal. Just innocent love. My oldest also calls me "ma" - little nicknames just for me. I never got a nickname as a child in school, I always saw it as a mark that someone feels close enough to you to give you one so to get two from two of mine just warms my heart.

My 2 year old daughter said "I love you" for the first time ever last week.

I mean, to answer your question, the love & sweet moments get lost because, even tho it's wonderful, parenting is very very hard, and there is always a new challenge.

My kids make me laugh (tend & pre-teens) even while driving me nuts 🤯

They are all very funny & good at quick comebacks & witty comments. They enjoy teasing me & I kinda like it too.

Those are the good bits!

I love it when my little grandson automatically puts his hand up to be held.... and the bigger one - although he is 9 - whispers "pick me up" as I kiss him goodbye when he goes to school.... so I do and squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze him so hard. He loves it!

.... and as for their Mum - my daughter - I put my hand on her hair to feel her becuase she's so amazing I can't believe she's real - and mine!!!

teens & pre-teens, that should say.

YABU. People mention this all the time. Any thread where OP asks whether that should have DC for example. Every parent I know says this.

Her little face when I went to get her up this morning. Huge smile on her face and arms stretched out wanting to be picked up 🥰

I agree op. There’s nothing more important imho. Love for children. Love for spouses and partners. Love for parents and siblings. Love for extended family. And vice versa. When things are bleak, iIts your loving relationships that see you through.

And medical science seems to be backing that up too. Loneliness is equivalent to smoking fifty a day or something!

Love is one of the most important things in life if you ask me. And we are very privileged if we have it, as many people don’t.

It’s not valued commercially, so it’s not valued in our society in general. In fact some people are threatened by it. And specifically on Mumsnet, you only hear about the difficulties as people don’t tend to post when they are happy. Same with all film and tv dramas; they are boring if they portray contentment.

Not that proper love is an automatic path to happiness btw … as it often involves all the hard things: grief, sticking by someone who is ill, digging in when things are financially difficult… but that’s for another thread.

Oh what a lovely thread. I'm sat here with my 1 year old and he's just happily playing with his noisy toy car and keeps coming over for a little fuss and a cuddle and it makes me feel all warm inside. Having children is absolutely amazing. My 6 year old still amazes me every single day and long may it last.

@alittlequinnie love what you said about your daughter. One of the sweetest things I have heard in a long time x

That is so lovely! My nearly seven year old has occasionally started asking if I’ve had a good day at work and it gives me a warm glow and slightly makes me want to cry for some reason!

So many lovely moments.

I am doing some volunteer work in DS1s school next week. He is nearly 13 and is beside himself with excitement. Yesterday he said;

'I am so looking forward to catching a glimpse of you at school next week! ......I'll have to pretend you aren't my mum though'.

It made me laugh and my heart melt that he was still young enough to be happy to see me but old enough to think of his street cred.

People mention it all the time. It's like...the point of families? Who doesn't mention it?

My daughter this morning: “Thank you darling mummy for him (baby DS), he’s my favourite friend and I love him, thank you for making him for us”.

And he’s just started smiling, it makes my heart want to burst.

Teen DSD painting DD’s toe nails last weekend and being so sweet and patient with her gently holding her chubby feet and being so nurturing of her.

Nice thread OP.

I voted yanbu because I agree and think it’s good for us all to focus on the good. But I think there’s little more tone deaf than a thread where a mum is drowning and a few show up to say ‘I find there’s so much love, why don’t you focus on that’ etc. Not saying that’s what you’re doing now but when you need a moan, you need a moan, and having places it’s safe to do that is invaluable. When mine were tiny friendships drifted when the other party went on about how great it was all the time. I felt it was either fake or at best totally insensitive when I felt it was the hardest time of my life!

Anyway. Rant over. I try to make a point to stop and just drink in moments and yesterday it was sunny and my two girls and puppy were all running free in the park after school, pure joy in them and joyful to watch. Kids have this capacity for unadulterated joy in the moment that many adults lose.

I'm a horrible cynic generally but this is a lovely post and so true.

I'm often amazed on these boards how often people are prepared to cut off family and friends for the most minor reasons. How they resent helping anyone they know. How they encourage people to ditch their husband the moment he forgets to do the washing up....etc etc

The hilarity; I love hearing about their school, their friends, and people-watching on holiday is a joy, God knows where they come up with their random observations. I haven’t laughed so much in ages as I have in the last year. I love listening to them talk to each other too, it gives me such hope for their future happy lives, there’s so much going on inside their heads. I know they’ll dump me soon for being uncool, so these are great days🥳

My 6 yo DD had to accompany me to the dentist last week. Instead of playing on the phone she came up and held me hand saying "I'm not leaving you Mummy, I'm staying right next to you, you'll be O-K" I felt so supported and loved, was V sweet 😭🥰

My DD6 used some saved birthday money to buy a notebook she’d taken a liking to in a shop. It has those quite nauseating inspirational quotes and prompts at the top of each page and whilst she was asking me to look at a picture she’d drawn, I noticed under the prompt ‘When I look in the mirror…’ she’d written ‘I think I feel pretty.’ and it just filled with my heart with joy that she has self-esteem like that.

Under another it suggested ‘Buy a coffee for the person in the queue behind you’ and she’d written ‘No, I think I’ll buy one for myself.’ 😂so swings and roundabouts.

I had a horrific childhood, really awful, so I've really strived to give my kids so much better than I had.

They saved up all their pocket money a few years back to buy me a toy I always wanted as a kid, and never got. I bawled my eyes out. Then they put an old programme on the TV and they all sat and hugged me as I watched it, they knew that programme was a tiny bit of light in an otherwise dark childhood.

The older 2 have also taken me to see two of my childhood heroes in concert.

They know a lot of what I have been through, and know that I've done my best by them, even when I fuck up, and they do these things every now and then to try and heal my inner child. They are the most beautiful souls ❤️

This is the kind of love and positivity needed on this awful, bullying forum! You have brightened up my day.

Thank you.