Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to say I love you more often. There
Speaker 1: is no point in being stingy with these words with
Speaker 1: the people you love, so why not let them know.
Speaker 1: This episode is first airing around Valentine's Day. We buy
Speaker 1: flowers and cards for our spouses and candy for our kids,
Speaker 1: all of which is great. It's also great to show
Speaker 1: love for people in our lives every other time of year.
Speaker 1: There are lots of ways to show love, and all
Speaker 1: of those have their merit, but honestly, one of the
Speaker 1: simplest ways is just to say it. I begin and
Speaker 1: trying to consciously say these words more often with my
Speaker 1: kids A great many years ago, particularly when my eldest
Speaker 1: was starting school, I realized that it was going to
Speaker 1: be quite easy to have the last words they heard
Speaker 1: from me each morning be something like why aren't your
Speaker 1: shoes in the mudroom? What do you mean you don't
Speaker 1: have your homework? You can't wear shorts in January, or
Speaker 1: something like that. So while I still say all those things,
Speaker 1: I then try to end with love you, as in
Speaker 1: come on you've got to get out the door to
Speaker 1: the bus right now. Love you. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: they notice or care, but if any of them does
Speaker 1: have a bad day for some reason or another, at
Speaker 1: least their mother's parting words to them were affectionate. You
Speaker 1: might try saying these little words when you part from
Speaker 1: your loved ones too. If you are not known for
Speaker 1: being particularly showy with emotions, you might start with some
Speaker 1: more demonstratives texts. Send these people an emoji heart, then
Speaker 1: you can work up to words. Your spouse and kids
Speaker 1: might be surprised, but they will probably be happy to
Speaker 1: get in I love you thinking about you text on
Speaker 1: their lunch break. I am not sure there's a good
Speaker 1: reason not to say I love you frequently. It's not
Speaker 1: like it means less just because you say it more often.
Speaker 1: It also isn't an invitation to downplay or write off
Speaker 1: bad behavior. You could absolutely tell a kid the school
Speaker 1: principle had to call me today about the incident in class,
Speaker 1: I love you, no matter what you do. I am
Speaker 1: also taking away your iPad until you can show that
Speaker 1: you can be trusted to live up to your obligations
Speaker 1: to your school community, and if you and your spouse
Speaker 1: happen to be in a rough patch. Well, saying I
Speaker 1: love you frequently is a down payment on your future happiness,
Speaker 1: as in I love you and I trust we are
Speaker 1: going to work this out anyway. If you are not
Speaker 1: particularly effusive, why not use Valentine's Day as an excuse
Speaker 1: to get started. Sure, the candy and hearts are all commercial,
Speaker 1: but it feels a little more normal to talk about
Speaker 1: love on this holiday. Then you can use that newfound
Speaker 1: showiness to keep going. See if you can say those
Speaker 1: little words once a day to the people you love most,
Speaker 1: then see if you can sometimes say them more than once.
Speaker 1: You just might find that you feel more loving. The
Speaker 1: more you talk about loving people, and it tends to
Speaker 1: be reflected, you will feel more loved as well. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows