How often do you say those three little words: “I love you”?
I’m pretty sure the “L” word came up pretty quickly between the husbear and I when we first got together – within the first couple of months 😉 .

And we’ve been saying it to each other often ever since – we celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary just last week!

However, I think it was Mr 27 who recently brought up the subject of how often we say it to them – our kidults – and the answer would have to be – we probably don’t 🙁 .
Does this mean we have failed as parents?! I hope not!
Of course we love our kids to bits, and have done since even before they were born – and we’ve frequently told them so since their earliest days, and yes, even now that they are all grown up.
Truth is though, we tend to say it as “love ya”, rather than “I love you”.
Hopefully they have still been getting the message 😉 .
It got the husbear and I thinking about what our parents did – and neither of us could really remember them saying “I love you” when we were children (though I’m sure they did).
- Perhaps it just wasn’t done then, back in the 70’s.
- It definitely wasn’t something dads would say!
- Yet we don’t really remember our mothers saying it either.
It’s only been in recent years that the husbear and I have made a point of saying “love you” to our parents at the end of a phone call, or as a farewell. We definitely noticed that his family in particular were a bit taken aback and didn’t really know how to react at first! However they soon responded in kind 🙂 .
As for our own Mr 27 and Miss 25 – I hope you both know that your Dad and I love you very much, even if we aren’t that great at “using our words”.
We do say it, just in different ways! When you think about it, we are saying “I love you” every time we:
- give you a hug;
- text you just to say “hi”;
- take photos of you;
- cook a meal for you;
- welcome your partner (though we love them in their own right too!);
- tell you that you look very smart / gorgeous / handsome / stylish or similar;
- share a meal with you;
- pat your arm;
- make plans, or spend time with you;
- surprise you with a little “warm fuzzy” (canvases for painting anyone?!)
- ruffle or play with your hair;
- pump up your tires;
- ask how you are;
- lend you something;
- send you cat pics;
- help you with a project;
- sing silly songs to/about you;
- care for you when you are sick (yes, even though you lead independent lives, you still like/need the care of Mum and Dad sometimes!)
- tag you in a meme on Facebook;
- come to your rescue if you need it;
- celebrate your birthday or other special occasions.
Well, you get the idea 🙂 .
Perhaps it’s the way of our “middle aged” generation. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!