There aren’t many “rules” in my house aside from the ones most of us have. Love God, be respectful of each other, clean the bathroom when told, keep your room somewhat clean/organized, say thank you when you receive a gift, say hello back when someone says hello to you, etc…There’s more but I would sound redundant.
We also have an unwritten rule of telling each other I Love You whenever we say good bye, even when we’ll be apart only for a few hours. Every time my older girls leave this house I say, “ bye…love you” and they say it back. We dropped Thomas off at his house last night after spending the afternoon with him and I must have said repeatedly I love you to him at least 3 times before he said it back, I have to smile at that because he does the same thing on the phone. I know he loves me, yes he has to say it.
I can talk to my husband 3 times a day on the phone and each time we say goodbye we say I love you. Same with my mom and close friends. It’s not that I’m afraid I’ll never see them again and I want those to be the last words they hear from me; that’s a great sentiment and excellent point. My intent is to let that person know how I feel about them. My kids know I love them as they know the sky is blue so do my husband and my mom. However it’s great to tell people how you feel whenever you get the chance no matter how often or not often. My best friend Jackie who lives in Wisconsin; I don’t have the opportunity to talk often to on the phone. We text mostly and always say I love you to each other. I have dear friends I met at church and we often tell each other I love you when we depart.
I remember before my dad died, before he became sick, we would speak on the phone often and I got into the habit of telling him I love you whenever we said goodbye. There was a time I rarely said I love you to my dad. I don’t know why it was that way. I mean I know my dad loved me even when it wasn’t said and I know he knew I loved him. One day it just became very important to me to say it to him and say it often. I’m glad I told him I loved him when I had the chance.
Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side... 