I noticed in the comments to my previous post that many people added "I love you" to the list of things you say to your kids 6,983 times a day. And I'm wondering, really??? (Edited to add: And by the way, this is not meant to be an attack on commenter, I am really wondering.)
Cuz, that post was a rant, and I was trying to think of things I say over and over again that drive me freakin' insane.
I guess I'm not one of those parents that gushes "I love you's" all over my kids all day long. I can think of specific times when I do say it, mainly just before bed, but other than that, if I'm being honest, a whole day could go by before I ever say it again.
Do my kids think otherwise? I don't think so. I show them I love them 6,983 times a day. They get kisses, hugs, all kinds of specific praise throughout the day.
Do I feel bad about it? Not really. I'm not really an overly gushy person and I wasn't raised in an overly gushy family. And, in fact, I am so cynical that I read the "I love yous" in the comments, noted that they came at the end of the lists, and wondered if they might have been written as after-thoughts. Almost as if, we'd better be saying "I love you" 6,983 times a day lest we be thought of as horrible mothers.
If you don't, you're not. It's as simple as that.
