Tell Us ABout 02.2025: Ways I Show Love

Happy Thursday, friends!!  Thank you for joining me for this month’s edition of Tell Us About 02.2025.  February’s prompt comes to us from lil ole me – ways I show love.  We tend to be really big around here on saying I love you, especially the girls and I.  PC a little less so but I would say he is better about saying those 3 little words than most guys.  But there are other ways we show and speak our love.

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I have always imagined writing a children’s book about ways to show love.  Maybe preparing this post will be the groundwork for that picture book.

When my daughters were younger, we had a number of little ways to say I love you without words.  Later when I married, I switched to doing some of these things with my Prince C.  And now that I have 4 precious grandbabies, I sometimes give them nonverbal messages of love, too.  These are some of my favorites:

• knock on wall or stomp on floor:  not just a knock-knock but the well-known ‘shave and a hair cut, 2 bits’ knock; I would knock the first part and the girls would reply to my knocking with the last 2 knocks.  We knocked on the walls or ceilings and stomped on the floors of our house but we also used this knock out in public.  It sounds really cool on metal walls of bathroom stalls.

• squeeze hands:  we will squeeze each other’s hands in the same pattern as the knock knock above or just give each other a long, tight squeeze of the hands
• messages in lunchbox:  I would put little messages on napkins in the girls’ lunchboxes, sometimes words, other times little drawings
• love notes:  when I visit Brennyn’s house, I usually write love notes to be found after I have left for home.  I probably do this most with Cady who reciprocates when she comes to visit me.

• mirror:  little messages or pictures written in lipstick or eyeliner on the bathroom mirror, usually something like this:

• DIY Pinspired message board:  I wrote a DIY how-to post on making these framed message boards.  You can find it here.  Made one for us, and for both daughters and their husbands.  We leave messages for each other on this.

• finding heart rocks:  this is really just a PC and me kinda thing.  We look for heart-shaped rocks whenever we go hiking.  I used to put them around in potted plants in the house once we got home.  Now I am moving them all outside to a special corner of our rock garden.  Can you spot some of them in this photo?

• framing the grands artwork or carrying it with me in my wallet: Lucia was born drawing and creates beautiful things.  Now baby sister, Cami, is following in her footsteps.  We bought these special frames to display and store their art.  The girls love to see their pictures framed in our den.  I have little post-it pictures Cady drew for me in my wallet.  Declan hasn’t really gotten the art bug YET.

 

 

 

• buying books:  this is a way I show love to family and friends and occasionally, strangers.  I give away books every month in my book club, Come Read with Me.  But also like to buy books for friends and friends’ children and grandchildren.  Books are one of my love languages.  My father always bought me books.  And then bought books for my daughters when they were children.  I guess it is in our genes.
• our lullaby:  at times, Lauren was a fussy baby.  I remember struggling to get her to sleep, at home and when we would be in the car for long jaunts.  In desperation, I made up a song with which to serenade and calm her.  And it worked.  I think it was the combination of the song and the repetitive way I would pat her back.  The same rhythm over and over and over.  Over the years, the lyrics have been altered to fit Brennyn’s and Lauren’s children’s names.  Just this week, Brennyn sent me a video clip of her singing to baby Declan recorded over 2 years ago.  The words I sang to Lauren or Buffy, as we call her, were:

Verse:

Mama loves Buffy and Buffy loves Mom

Daddy loves Buffy and Buffy loves Dad

Mama loves Daddy and Daddy loves Mom

And we all love the Huskies

 

Chorus:

Buffy, Buffy Poo,

Mama loves her, yes, her do

This is Mama’s Buffy Poo

A Buffy, Buffy Poo-Poo

 

 

And Then There’s Food

 

When we aren’t singing, knocking on the walls, or writing love notes to one another, we tend to speak our feelings through food.  My maternal grandmother said “I love you” through her delicious homemade bread, orange rolls and cinnamon rolls.  Although she was not as ‘motherly’, my paternal grandmother would make one delicious coconut meringue pie when she visited or we visited her.

My mom baked the same bread and rolls as her mother as a way of loving us.  My mom’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy were always our birthday dinner staples.  And over the years, I have made a few of the girls’ favorites like chicken pot pie, patty-cakes (corn cakes that we eat like tacos with ground beef), no-bake chocolate cookies.  Made those for Lauren just this week.  And sugar cookies for PC.  Paul’s mom loves us with cherry pie and chili.

Red Lobster speaks to PC.  Olive Garden has always spoken to our family.  And we have a favorite mom and pop Mexican restaurant, Casita Linda, that is often the place we celebrate these days.  When the girls were in high school, Lauren mentioned that so many of our family ‘dates’ or celebrations revolved around food, eating.  That gave me pause.  It was the case then and is still the case now.  No wonder I can’t get off those pesky 10 pounds.  How do you celebrate?  Is eating always involved?

Tell Us About Friends

 

I am anxious to read how the other Tell Us About members speak love without using those 3 little words.  Won’t you join me in visiting them?

• Deb from Deb’s World shares a bit of love poetry and explains how she says ‘I love you’ without actually saying the words ‘I love you’.
• Marsha from Marsha in the Middle  is writing a mini retreat for the women of her church.  Coincidentally, it’s about Love!  So, she’s killing two birds with one stone for this month’s Tell Us About!
• Coming to us from MKsAdventure, Mary Katherine shares her take on this month’s topic  – Lovin’ from the Oven. She reveals that if she REALLY loves you, this is what she’ll cook for you!
• Rosie at Rosie Amber has written a poem inspired by romance book titles.
• Sue, who blogs at Women Living Well After 50, writes about how loving and nourishing your body empowers you to thrive, embrace life fully, and bloom with vitality at every stage.
• Suzy from Suzy Turner blog explores the five love languages and shares her personal take on love, including daily affirmations with her husband, their dislike for Valentine’s Day commercialism, and how she feels most loved when he gives her a big hug.

And if you have a love language-related post, won’t you share it with us below?  Please link up only posts that reflect this month’s Tell Us About theme.  We will be sure to stop by!!

 

Your Turn

 

A few years ago, I became interested in learning more about the The 5 Love Languages, a book written by Gary D. Chapman.  At that time, I felt like PC and I spoke in very different love languages.  And I was trying to speak love to him in MY language while he was speaking love to me in HIS language.  And we were about as successful at it as if he had been speaking in German to me (he does know some) and I was speaking in Spanish to him.  We seem to be speaking the same language most of the time these days, even if it is Pig Latin.  You can find my posts about the 5 Love Languages in 2 posts I wrote about them, here and here.

How do you say I love you without speaking it?  Does your family have special little things it does that convey that message?  Please share in a comment below.

Wish I could write you a little note, draw a picture on your bathroom mirror, bake you some cookies to show you how much I appreciate your friendship.  Please know how much I value your visit.  And if you are a glutton for punishment and haven’t had enough of me yet today, you might check out my Ageless Style post that went live earlier this morning.  It’s kind of on the same theme…Valentine colors!!

Off to fold clothes, pick up a grocery order and then go to the DENTIST.  YUCK.  Hope you have something fun planned for your day.

Hugs and kisses,