Spending time with kids can be fun.

Angela Verges | Contributor

Could it be possible that we owe our children something, other than our unconditional love? I asked my son to do something beyond his “regular” chores. He jokingly said, “Now you owe me $2.”

Our children sometimes believe we owe them something, but it’s usually superficial things.

In an article titled 10 things we owe our children, the author listed components that parents should focus on to help convey love to our children. My top five choices include the following: Discipline, reliability, comfort, time and encouragement.

How do these things work together to convey our love to our children? Let's take a look at each area individually.

Discipline: Children need boundaries and secretly want them. When my son was younger, he experienced a time where he didn’t want to go out and play with one of the neighborhood kids. My son said the child “played around too much and is always getting in trouble for something.” He wanted me to tell the boy he couldn’t come outside because he had work to do. So I really gave him some work to do, but told him a better way to resolve that type of situation.

The article indicated that as we mold our children into good decision makers, we must help them develop a system of disciplinary methods. This requires customizing our methods for each child. The stubborn child may require more than the sensitive child who straightens up with a stern look.

Reliability: Reliability was identified as showing your child you care about the things in their life by making them a priority. This means dropping them off to practices on time and showing up for a special event that you say you will attend.

Comfort: Simply put, comfort makes a child feel protected and valuable. This comes in the form of showing affection toward our children and verbalizing our love to them.

Time: No matter what is going on in our busy lives, we must plan quality time with our children. Sometimes the little things make all the difference in the world to a child: playing catch in the backyard, reading together or taking a walk.

Encouragement: "A parent’s encouragement and support is what keeps a child believing." We want our children to be empowered to take risks and to use failure as motivation. Encouragement is one way to lead children to this end result.

All of the components above work together to make up the set of things we owe our kids. What can you add to the list?

Angela Verges is a writer and mother of two. She can be reached at awritersdream41@yahoo.com.