6-Year-Old Stuns Mom with Heartfelt Valentine’s Day Gesture
Children’s minds are like sponges, soaking up everything they see and hear, including our behaviors. Though we might not realize it until we see those learned habits in action.
As kids develop, it’s natural to mimic their parents’ behaviors. That includes habits, attitudes, emotional regulation techniques, and even the way parents express empathy. Stay-at-home mom Katherine, aka The GameSchooler, realized just how much her kids pick up on her behaviors after sharing her family’s sweet Valentine’s Day tradition on Instagram. “To all the parents putting hearts on your kids’ doors this February, just know your modeling is powerful,” she captions the viral video, which now has over 1.7 million views.
In the video, Katherine sticks a paper heart that reads “I love your joy” to her son’s bedroom door, a tradition she and her husband began with their two boys in 2025. The next clip shows her 6-year-old enthusiastically taping his own “handwritten” note to her door.
“We made it a few days into February and my son asked why I didn’t have anything on my door 
then he asked if he could make one for me! ,” she writes on Instagram. “That was the moment I realized this little tradition was wayyyyy more than just a cute little Valentine’s activity 
.” (When she asked her son what the heartfelt scribbles on the card said, he explained, “I love you because you’re nice.”) “It highlighted, for me, how much kids actually absorb,” Katherine tells Motherly. “You kind of know as a mom that they’re picking up on certain things, but when you see it in action, it’s really special.”
The video has since inspired thousands of parents across social media to recreate the Valentine’s Day trend with their own children. Some have taken a similar approach to Katherine—leaving a different note on their children’s doors each day in February leading up to the holiday. Others have decided to go all out on Valentine’s Day itself and create an entire collage of paper affirmation hearts for their children. Both approaches, however, seem to strengthen the connection between parents and their children, giving families a dedicated moment to share their appreciation for their little ones.
“When we show our kids how to notice goodness, speak kindness, and love out loud, we’re teaching them how to love others well 
which is a quality I want them to carry with them always,” Katherine writes on Instagram.
Building confidence by modeling empathy and kindness
Even simple acts of kindness, like bringing in a neighbor’s mail or listening attentively while someone shares about their day, demonstrate respect and compassion for others. “I think modeling is very important,” Katherine says. “When parents are able to monitor their own emotions, and kids see that, then they’re able to absorb that and internalize it.”
For Katherine and her husband, decorating their kids’ bedroom doors with personalized Valentine’s Day compliments was all about expressing love. “I wanted them to see themselves through our eyes, how we see them, and how we value them,” she says, adding that her children are always excited to read their door decorations leading up to the holiday. “I just love the fact that they see us do that, and then they internalize it, and it helps them build their emotional security and their confidence. Then they’re able to show it back to us.”
“I feel like they’re more confident in their emotions and they’re able to express themselves more freely now.”
Writing the admiration cards isn’t necessarily about acknowledging a good grade or a goal on the soccer field, but highlighting your children’s personal strengths and characteristics. These may be things you point out to them often in conversation—“I love your silliness”—or something they may not have noticed about themselves yet—“You are a great problem-solver.” The goal is to express your love for them without expectations. What comes from seeing the personalized messages might be something immediate, like writing a note for you in return, or more subtle, like an increased sense of self-confidence.
Notably, after only two years of the Valentine’s Day tradition, Katherine has noticed key differences in how her sons communicate their emotions. “I feel like they’re more confident in their emotions and they’re able to express themselves more freely now,” she says. “The language that they’re using is more in-depth when they’re talking about their feelings because, since they hear it [from us], they then can replicate it to each other.”
Bonus: quality time with your partner
Between school pickups, doctor’s appointments, meal prep, and bedtime routines, parents rarely get the opportunity to soak in some self-praise. By carving out time to acknowledge your children’s best qualities, you’re also gifting yourself a moment to celebrate your parenting wins. Doing this with your partner can be another way to reaffirm your impact as a team.
In addition to strengthening Katherine’s bond with her children, creating the paper hearts has also become a sweet bonding activity between her and her husband. “It’s fun when we sit down to do these little hearts because I feel like I’m bragging about my kids to my husband, and he’s bragging to me about them,” she says. “It’s just a fun relationship [activity] too.”
Not only are you praising your child, but yourself—a confidence booster that may circle back to benefit you and your kids twofold. “I think it’s really important to recognize value in other people,” Katherine says. “That’s such a foundational life skill, and if we can start that at an early age, I feel like the world would be just a beautiful place.”
A simple (but meaningful) way to connect with kids
As the tradition continues, Katherine hopes her children will naturally gravitate toward writing paper hearts for each other. “They love hearing about each other’s [door decorations],” she says. “We do it nightly, so right before bedtime, we’ll give them their little heart on their door and explain why we love them and everything. It’s so fun to hear them so engaged with each other . . . It’s sweet to see it help their connection as well.”
If you have construction paper, a marker, tape, and a pair of scissors, it only takes two minutes to recreate this magical moment with your kids. Compliment their joy. Compliment their humor. Compliment their creativity. Take the opportunity to celebrate them. What might take minutes for you could create lasting memories—and habits—they’ll carry with them well into adulthood.
source https://www.mother.ly/news/viral-trending/valentines-day-door-decoration-instagram-video/
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