Little Girl Cries After Dad Forgets To Give Her A Hug And A Kiss

Do you have a daily ritual? Something that gives you a sense of stability and maintenance in this hectic and chaotic world? Something you know will bring you a little bit of peace of mind to go about your day? You probably do, although you do not recognize it as such.Show more

Small children love rituals, probably because they help them understand the world around them better. This little girl certainly had one. She and her dad would share a hug and a kiss every time he walked out the front door. It means that he loves her very much and that he will be back to her very soon. The tiny tot held onto that ritual dearly, until something happened that turned her baby life around. Dad got out of the house and completely forgot about their ritual.

The truth is, he just went out for a short walk. But he still broke protocol and his baby girl did not take it all too well.What you are about to see could probably be described as the saddest little girl on the face of the planet. It sure pulled on our heartstrings.

“Why are you crying?” mom asks her little daughter, while she is trying to stifle her sobs. “Because Daddy forgot a hug and kiss when he go’d…” she manages to to utter a reply in between whimpers and boy, we feel the lump forming in the back of our throat...How could dad have betrayed her like this?

Mommy is obviously sad to see her little girl so broken up like this, so she tries her best to comfort her. “Daddy says when he gets back he’ll give you a big hug and a kiss. Okay?” But the kid knows better. She knows that you give people a hg and a kiss when they go bye-byes. Boy oh boy, did dad mess up big time. Let’s just hope he makes up for his mistake with a double dose of hugs and kisses.

"Separation anxiety can happen almost overnight, which makes it shocking to parents," says Sara Abbot, associate director of the Family Resource Counseling Center in Los Angeles. It is often not just a one-time, babyhood phase for many kids. The tears and fears related to being apart from the parents can resurface in the toddler and preschool years, posing new challenges and warranting different solutions.

As discouraging as that may sound, it can be very helpful to remember that separation crisis is completely normal, even healthy. "From the earliest years of life, we should want children to encounter ordinary adversity because it's practice for building resilience," says Aaron Cooper, Ph.D., coauthor of ‘I Just Want My Kids to Be Happy! Why You Shouldn't Say It…’

Fortunately, there's plenty you can do to minimize your child's angst, as well as your own, along the way.

You can start early, to accustom your baby to you leaving for a period of time for work. Keep your goodbye short always and keep a cheerful mode on. You might be faking it, but do not let your little know you are sad to leave them at home. And of course, do what this little tot’s dad did and create a ritual when they get older, to create order into the departure.