(This is written by Footywife)

We celebrated our little son’s 3rd birthday last weekend.  He is a die-hard fan of the Walt Disney movie “Cars” so I got him Mack (the truck that carried Lightning McQueen, the protagonist in the movie).  Needless to say, that got my little son really happy and excited.

He hugged me and told me “Mama I love you because you bought me Mack”.

Which prompted me (and any parent I’m sure) to ask “Would you still love me if I didn’t buy you Mack?”.  “No” came the reply, without any hint of apology, simply as a matter of fact.

That got me really upset and I immediately launched into a lecture of how love ought not be tied to material things… how he should still love me even if I don’t buy him any toys… how love should be unconditional love…Well, that’s easier said than done.  I fumbled to find the right words, the right analogy to explain this as simply as I could.

In the end I got a blank look and a very disinterested 3-year old.  I simply gave up and told him I will talk to him again about this some other time. How do we explain unconditional love to a 3 year old?