First of all, I do have a disclaimer for this post. Our home internet is down until this coming Thursday and I am writing this post on my cell phone with voice to text so I can multitask. Please pardon my typos.

My youngest kid came out of his room a few minutes ago wanting a last drink before bed. I told him to get his last sip of water and then it was back to bed. As he was walking back to his room, I told him, “I love you!” and his response was “I love you too.” Sometimes he or his brother will tell me that they love me or their dad to the end of the sea and therefore, when it comes to how much we love one another, they “win” because the sea has no end. We used to joke that I love you x 100 or times infinity and then my eldest came up with the “I love you to the end of the sea” as infinity was not long enough.

Saying “I love you” to my kids isn’t out of the norm. In fact, I have asked my kids to “Guess what!” so often before saying I loved them, they reply, “I know, Mom! You love me.” It is kind of funny how they sometimes act exasperated with me but then I’ll see a little half smile. Hugs, kisses, cuddles, snuggles…. all part of how we show affection in our family. There are a lot of other things we tell them like how we are proud of them, they are talented, they are kind, etc. Words of affirmation. I know that is not always a common thing in all families but I think for me, a large part of why I tell my kids that I love them is because of how infrequently my dad said it to me.

My dad passed away in 1993 after almost two years of battling cancer. I was about 10 years old. I remember asking my mom when i was in my teens if my dad really loved me because I couldn’t remember him saying it much. She assured me that he did. I still have my 8th birthday card signed “Love, Daddy” in his beautiful handwriting. The man seriously had amazing penmanship. But a memory or fragment of a memory of him saying those three little words? Nope. He may have shown it often but I don’t remember the actions spelling it out.

That is one reason why I don’t want my kiddos to ever doubt that I love them. I want them to have those words embedded in their memories for longer than I may be on this Earth. We never know how much time we have with our loved ones. Say the words. Often. Don’t leave them wondering.

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