Love is not a prize. Love is air for the soul. Depriving a child of love is similar to a scuba driver threatening to close his son's oxygen tank. If we threaten a child, he will begin to fear that he will not be loved and will be closed in his room.
We have yet to see a child destroyed by excessive love. Perhaps he was destroyed on account of the lack of proper treatment due to love. Perhaps he was not educated correctly, or punished when he need to be. A child is not destroyed by excessive love. And even when he is punished, he must know that he is loved – unconditionally!
Always remember: A child does not know how to distinguish when his mother is angry with him or when she is angry about something else. If his mother returns home with an upset face because she received guff at work, he is certain that it is his fault. This is true until the age of 10 – everything that happens in the world revolves around him. It is an egocentric period. Egocentrism is not egotism. Egocentric means that he thinks that he is the center of the world. A dog barks in the street – he is sure that it was at him. One parent yells at another – it is at him. Everything is to him and about him. A parent must always remember this, and be sensitive to it.
