Following on from the dp/dh thread, how often do you tell your children you love them?

[Miaou]

... Because I think I virtually never say it

I show them a lot - we are very tactile, do lots of kisses and hugs and cuddles. But I never say "I love you" to them (and neither does dh, incidentally). I am confident that they are secure in our love for them, but ... does that make me unusual? I have to say the thought of saying "I love you" to them leaves me a little uncomfortable, don't know why.

oh tortoise...too old to kiss goodnight

All day long

All the time. DD tells me she loves me all the time, asks for cuddles so often it feels suffocating

My mum wasn't the type to say "I love you" So, in fact, the one time she did say it I remember.

It was Xmas eve 1986 & we were on our way to midnight mass. She had 2 vodka & coke before that though, so I'm not sure if she meant it.

All the time, even when chastising him ('I love you dearly but I don't like this behaviour')

and Just told him now

I'm at how many don't remember it being said to them/didn't get it said to them.

All the time

I remember it always being me throwing my arms around my mother & asking for cuddles...don't ever recollect her initiating them though.
I dont ever recall being told verbally 'I love You'.

except by my grandmother who still tells me everyday...

ah, grandmothers! .

My Mum still never says it but I am sure she feels it. I seem to remember her once saying it sounds phoney American if it is overused. Now I've my own dc I really can't relate to that. It is so lovely when one of them just calls out spontaneously, 'love you Mummy'. I feel sad for my Mum that she's missed out on all that.

I think it is important that you do say it. Dh's parents never said it to him either although it is obvious that they love him very much. However he has a bit of problem saying it himself because he's not used to it.

I think kids like to hear it for the reassurance just as we like to hear it from our partners.

How about a "I love you" just as you are tucking them in at night Miaou? Then they have those words in their heads as they go to sleep!

My parents hardly ever said it either. So I vowed to be a more demonstrable parent and I have been. It was actually more natural than I expected. And I think the more you do it, the easier it is.

We're also very tactile and I always say I love you at bedtime and often say it when they're a bit sad, we've had a row, I've had to tell them off or when they've done something brilliant or said something very funny.

i dont think you can ever say it...or hear it too much.

Oh I think you can! It's all too easy to rattle off an "I love you" without meaning it.

I don't say it unless I mean it. To the kids perhaps that's 4 times a day, but always when I feel a rush of love for them. It means more to them and you that way.

i don't mean saying it just for the sake of saying it...

Message withdrawn

I say it daily to dd and ds...and not just because I can BUT because I honestly do love them and imo feel that I should and that I want to tell them..I don't see any harm in it and I feel comfortable saying it.

I do get emotional when I say it esp to ds (3 weeks old) and I must admit when I found out I was expecting a boy I didn't think I would cope or that I would love him like I do dd BUT..........I don't know why I worried as I love him just as much. So at various times during the day I sit and tell him that although I had doubt,I now know that I can and do love him just as much. It makes me fill up as he watches my every move and tear, like he understand exactly what I am saying..

BUT I did come from a family who expressed their emotions and even now aged 28 my mum and dad tell me on a regular basis how much they love me.

I say it to dd daily as well, sometimes many times...reading others threads I can't wait till she can say it back..makes my heart melt reading others comments.

Also shocks me to hear that some of you never had it said to you as kids .

I say it loads to DS. Am a secondary school teacher and too aware of the horrors of adolescence that lie ahead so, age 4, DS gets lots of cuddles and lots of 'I love you'. Cuddle him before bedtime knowing how precious the cuddles are because all too soon he'll tell me to Geroff and stop being embarrassing!

Say it all the time and ds (nearly 4) constantly telling me he loves me "more than the whole wide world!" bless. Not normally reasons for saying it but one time deffo always do is bedtime.

I too don't remember it being said to me and found cuddling parents awkward as got to teenager etc so not sure if this is why I do it SOOOOO much??? I know my parents love me, just didn't get the closeness I craved.

I don't remember my parents ever saying it to me, but I never felt unloved - just not their "thing" (no kisses either once we were past about 15). I can't imagine saying it to my dad now (and my mum is dead, so no chance there). Doesn't mean I don't love him though.

I tell my kids at least once a day - when saying goodnight to them - but also at other times, fairly randomly.

i say it every 5 minutes!!.... i know!...im terrible

We say a few times a day, ds loves it, dd can't say it but when you say it to her her way is to cuddle you