“While some little ones seem to easily develop an intense emotional attachment to others, it’s usually between 3 and 6 years old that children experience their first love. It’s an important period in terms of finding their personal identity, during which they want to do everything like their parents and other adults around them, and love is no exception. Children are surrounded by people who live and are happy as a couple: their parents or relatives, and if it’s not the case, the fairytales characters where the story always ends with “They got married, had many children and lived happily ever after” certainly play that role very well. Kids then want to replicate that ideal of happiness. Children’s love stories can also meet a need for appreciation and gratification. Feeling important to someone, getting compliments, special attention, hugs, and kisses can prompt a child to have a sweetheart. For others, a very special bond is created between two kids from the very first time they meet. It’s something we can’t really explain and that makes them inseparable.”

I wanted to break away from the general idea of love within couples and explore a different kind of love relationship. I know how much I love my mom so I started to look into it and found this excerpt. I was immediately hooked by this idea of the development of love. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but I was so excited when I found it. I love the intention of this article, and think they delivered the message in a very understandable way. This quote talks about how important the first love of a child is. The love they observe from their parents or surrounding people sets the expectations for most of their later relationships. The article talks about how children try to replicate the kind of happiness that is exemplified to them in their early years. I appreciate how relatable this article is because I have worked with a lot of children and can see how greatly they can be influenced at those youth ages. Then, this paper goes into talking about how affection is such a reward for children. They crave attention, compliments, hugs, and kisses, all of which are encompassed by love. This medium was definitely my favorite to explore because I find psychology, especially in the developmental field, incredibly purposeful and I love learning about it. I most likely wouldn’t have found this article without the push of this project, so I am super grateful I got to do some of my own exploring.