The Fam
My parents were never big into saying they loved us as kids. It was more just assumed since they didn’t drown us as tots. Growing up, I always thought it was kind of awkward when other parents said “I love you” to their kids and they didn’t side-eye each other afterwards. It almost made my skin crawl. I thought it was weird, that it wasn’t the norm. I think as a kid I was too busy to worry about it any time other than when I noticed someone else saying it.
Meet the Weirdo
A hundred years pass and I meet my future husband. I’m 18 now. (Don’t worry about the math. It works out in dog years or something.) He comes from a family that says it a lot. Ew.
Ok, I’m cool. I can say “I l…lo..l…” nope! Sorry, can’t do it. I try to explain it to him. He doesn’t seem to mind too much that I am freaked out and super awkward about it. He persists to tell me on a hourly basis (young love) as we move through our relationship and it begins to grow on me.
My Fam
Another hundred years pass and I have a little family of my own. I’ve come to adore the sappy little phone “love you’s” and the quick pecks on the cheek whilst saying it as one of us heads out the door for the day. Without even trying, I spring it on my kids. Telling them I love them as I leave for work, or at bedtime, or just when they are being them. I think it’s important because I mean it. I think that they think it’s normal or something. Bless their little hearts.
Now
Have I gotten over my awkwardness about it? Not fully. Especially when I am mad at the hubs. However, over the years and getting a little wiser in my old age, I have learned that I need to overcome my own insecurities about it. I love him and I love our sweet kids. So you see, it’s less about the perceived monotony I thought of it and more about the actuality. And that my friends, is something to love.
Tired Not Dead 