Did you grow up in an affectionate home where you said "I love you" often?

[6demandingchildren]

This came up on my Facebook.
For me my dad has never said it to me but his partner has, my mum says it not she is older but never when I was growing up.
My husband parents didn't like children and still don't.
Me and DH always tell our children and grandchildren we love them and let them know how proud they make us.
Was it the norm for 70's children?

Born late 70's and never told it freely as a child. If I asked DM she would say that of course she loved me, but would never say it unprompted. Now she's in her 70's and widowed she says it probably because I'm all the family she has left

DH and I say it to DS all the time and he unashamedly says it back, even at 17 in front of his friends.

I don’t doubt that all the posters saying they declare it ten times a day to their children do genuinely love them. But I don’t understand why the love needs to be so repeatedly verbalised - as if the children won’t know it otherwise. because the naming of something prioritises it, emphasises it, celebrates it. Because love doesn’t have to be implied, it can be open and enjoyed. Because they wish they’d realised earlier how very important it is to say and to hear.

I knew I was loved by my parents but the words were never said,

Consequently as a family we now say it all the time.
I made a conscious effort when they were small to make it part of our daily interactions.
It makes us happy

None from my mother but she never got any growing up so I suppose that's why. My father was very emotional and would say he was so proud of us and loved us. Since I grew older there is none of that now.

I like the odd ‘I love you’. But I will never be one of those people who ends every phone call with an ‘I love you’ or says it throughout the day. I find that kind of lessens its impact.

Yes, loads. Apparently, as a toddler I went through a phase of incessantly asking DM whether she loved me.

One day caught unawares she said she 'simply adored' me. I was later found hiding under a blanket crying fit to break my heart, sobbing mummy doesn't love me she simply adores me.

Traumatised, I tell you. No actual recollection but it is an oft repeated family anecdote

No. I was a seventies child too.
I tell my children and my friends that I love them all the time and it's reciprocated. I think the last 18 months has brought it sharply home how precarious and difficult life can be and there's a sense of wanting to support the ones you love.
We're very physically affectionate too.
My parents still aren't!

Not really no. However it didn’t need to be said IYKWIM. Actions are louder than words and all that

Actions speak louder than words. My parents never said I love you but I was very secure in the knowledge they loved me. My Mum was huggier as she got older. I adore my children but I rarely say I love you but they know I do from my actions and caring behaviour towards them . Everyone is different. I have a couple of friends who say it practically at the end of every sentence. Doesn't mean they love their family more or less than me .

I dont think I was ever told I was loved growing up. Never really hugged ever either.

I tell my DD everyday that I love her and I cuddle her everyday. She's 14 now and still enjoys a mum cuddle.

@Thirtyrock39

Ironically my parents told me they loved me all the time but could be heavy handed and I had quite a dysfunctional childhood compared to dh who is very close to his parents, clearly means the world to them but never says I love you to them and they never say it back I think it's easily said but needs to be shown

Exactly the same

Very little affection, my parents were brought up by Victorians and in turn hardened by the war (WWII). As for the generation gap - it was more like a chasm.

My parents told me they loved me. Dh's didn't. He would love his dad to say it now. His mum says it occasionally now he has grown up.

I have told my own DC this and they looked at me in sheer disbelief but my Mum only ever told me she loved me when she was drunk, it was the only time she ever showed me any remote affection at all.

I don’t remember my Dad ever saying it but his whole family were/are weird and they almost thought all emotion should be hidden away from children. When my Grandad died I had to stay away from my Gran until she was in a place where she wouldn’t break down crying in front of me for example and I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral. They keep everything secret from one another incase one of them decides to break ranks and gossip to an outsider, they’re all really weird people.

I've never once heard it from my Mum, my Dad a handful of times (usually when tipsy).

They don't even sign it on cards etc, just say 'Best Wishes'.

I tell my DH and children that I love them multiple times each day (and write big soppy love notes on cards!).

Nope. Nearest was my mother saying I’m proud you got into Uni …. I was 41!!!!!! Even when stepdad died and I hugged her she said don’t do that I don’t like it, but when her friends did it she hugged them back.