A dad has opened up about the brilliantly simple solution that helped his daughter deal with separation anxiety at school after the death of her mum.
The parent took to Reddit to share a photo of a pink heart that had been drawn on his hand in felt-tip pen.
He dubbed it a “cuddle button” – the idea being that he has one on his hand, and his daughter has one on hers, so when she’s at school she can press the ‘button’ and it sends a hug to her dad. And vice versa.
“Since my wife died last year, my 4y/o [four-year-old] daughter has hated being away from me,” the father shared on the social media site.
“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.”
Fellow parents thought the idea was brilliant, but were also saddened to hear of why it was needed.
“That’s the most adorable and sad thing. I am so sorry for your loss. Keep being an amazing dad,” wrote one user.
“What a wonderful teacher as well,” added another parent, praising the brains behind the idea. “I’d feel good knowing she’s in pretty safe hands every day.”
The idea has also provided comfort to fellow widowers. One parent wrote: “I love this so much. My wife died about 8 months ago so I’m raising our now 2 year old son without her.
“Much love and respect from one single dad/widower to another.”
The idea has been a go-to for parents whose children have been struggling with school drop-offs for some time now.
In 2017, Louise Mallett posted about “hug buttons” which she’d started drawing on hers and her son’s hands when he was anxious about starting school.
“We had a chat and came up with the idea of having a heart each [on our hands] and if we pressed it, it sent a hug to the other one,” she told HuffPost UK at the time.
The pair would “charge” each other’s hearts on the way to school by holding hands. To receive “hugs” during the day, her son had to press on his heart.
Mallett explained: “When I picked him up, I said: ‘Did you get my hugs?’ and he happily said: ‘Yep, I pressed it for a long time mummy but I didn’t cry’.
“So I said: ‘Ahhhh that will be that big squeeze I got, did you get my big squeeze back?’ and he said: ‘Yep!’
“Bless him, here’s to many more happy days at school.”