Have I Told You Today

When I was a kid, my dad traveled all the time.

It was not uncommon for him to leave on Sunday night until Friday afternoon.

When he was with us,

he was always giving us a hard time.

His favorite thing to ask me was

"Have I told you today that I love you?"

I always got so sick of hearing that,

but like with most parental issues,

you always end up sounding like your parents,

so it was no surprise that a few months after The Angel and The Dinosaur were home,

I channeled Dad and started asking

"Have I told you today that I love you?

The Angel now makes it a game.

She is always asking me and

then bursting into laughter as she tells me

"well, I do; give me a kiss."

My baby sister came home this weekend and we had a great visit.

The Angel always takes Aunt LaLa leaving really hard,

so tonight she and I sat at the kitchen table and had a good cry.

The Dinosaur's world was completely displaced

with his two favorite women were crying.

He had no idea what to do with himself.

I had my head buried in my hands when his little fist was punching my arm.

"Hey Mommy?"

" Yeah buddy."

" Have I told you today that I luf you?"

While I really wanted to continue crying, I couldn't keep from laughing.