Sending children off to school can be just as heartbreaking for parents as it can be terrifying for the children themselves. It’s a massive step in any parent-child relationship; however, one father and daughter have found a truly heartwarming method of getting around the anxiety of being separated.
The solution that they came up with was something called a “cuddle button”.
Yes, the cuddle button is a small drawing that both the father and the daughter receive on their hands from the daughter’s teacher each morning. The idea is that whenever the daughter gets lonely, she can press the button and receive a hug.
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Yeah, get ready to grab a kleenex for this one.
The father shared this image, and explained the heartbreaking circumstances of his daughter’s separation anxiety.
The above image which the father shared online quickly went viral. The father also explained the backstory behind the cuddle button:
“This little heart on my hand is called a ‘cuddle button’. Since my wife died last year, my 4y/o daughter has hated being away from me. Her teacher draws this on both our hands when I drop her off at school and every time we press it, it sends a hug to the other. It helps her feel connected to me.”
The comments quickly became awash with people sharing condolences to the man and his daughter.
There were not only comments from people sharing their condolences at this difficult time, but a lot of people who have been through a similar experience shared their own coping methods:
“Another trick (which we learned during the training we went through to adopt our sons) was to get a keychain that holds a photo and put a photo of us with our kid in it. The kid can keep it in their pocket or school bag and can pull it out to look at whenever they like. It’s all about building and reinforcing attachment.”
Other people shared similar difficulties they had as kids going to school, and how their parents helped them through it.
One memory that someone shared was of their mother hiding a kiss in a Kodak film canister (who else is old enough to remember them eh?) for them to open in school:
“When I was younger my Mum used an empty Kodak film canister to catch a kiss before quickly sealing it with the lid. I’d carry it everywhere. I remember a few occasions during my first school years that I had to use it. Tears streaming down my face for whatever reason, I’d open the canister and quickly press it against my cheek in case it escaped.”
A lot of people also suggested that the father should get the heart tattooed on, however, I’m not sure how likely that is to happen.
As it turns out, the idea of a cuddle button is more common than you may think.
Back in 2017, Louise Mallett from Ipswich, UK, shared the above photo of her and her son’s “Hug buttons” which garnered a lot of attention across social media. In a post about the positive effect it had had on her son, she wrote:
“I could tell [my son] was feeling a little emotional this morning so we had a chat and came up with the idea of having a heart each and if we pressed it, it sent a hug to the other one (he said he cried as he missed me on his first half day last week) it totally worked!
“I drew a heart on both our hands and gave him a spare one on his arm in case the one on his hand wore off, we ‘charged’ them by holding hands on the way to school and when I picked him up I said did you get my hugs and he happily said yep!”
What a wonderful way to make children and their parents feel more connected at times of such stress.
Everyone remembers those first day of school nerves, and so anything that you can do to make your child feel more comfortable and relaxed is worth doing. To have lost a parent at such a young age is tragic, but it is good to see that this father and daughter are finding ways to move forward together.
h/t: Reddit
