Sometimes, saying I love you too much can get on people’s nerves. I don’t really understand this because, honestly, I wish I could have someone follow me around all day telling me how much they love me and then whisper the words gently in my ear as I fall asleep. Then they would stand sentry by my bedside all night long, and whenever I stirred in the night, they’d lull me back to sleep by, you guessed it, singing placidly in my ear about all the things they love about me.
But to each their own, I guess.
Here are some alternative ways to say I love you if those around you are becoming exasperated with your constant love confessions:
- The pasta salad you make, with the crab and avocado and that dressing that I can never replicate no matter how hard I try, really makes my heart happy. Please never stop making that pasta salad for me.
- The other day when you fixed that cupboard I had ripped off the wall as I tried to grab for a handhold while slipping in a puddle of water that the kids spilled and never cleaned up, looks really good. You are a master craftsman.
- Sometimes, when I’m feeling sad about the world, I think of that mole on the top of your head. It calms me to know that the mole on the top of your head will always be there when I’m looking for stability in my life.
- Thank you for loving the dog. I know that you didn’t want the dog when I first brought her home without informing you that I was bringing home a dog. I appreciate how you’ve allowed her into your heart. Now you treat her like she’s one of the kids, and it’s funny because you used to make fun of people who did that. I love that you love our dog.
- I am never happier than when I find that you have left me a love note. Like that one time, I was working really hard on finishing the final edits of my book, and I was hiding away in my office for days on end. Then I found that you had drawn me a picture of a personified penis — enormous, long-haired and veiny, giving me a comical thumbs up — with a caption that read “Good work, Bae, go balls deep in writing!” Never. Been. Happier.
- I like your butt. It is 100% my favorite butt in the world.
- You are very funny, and I think that if you ever leave your job, you should seriously consider a career as a stand-up comedian.
- You are kind to me. Like when I can’t point out Turkey on a map or don’t know the basic history of some empire you’re talking about, you never tease me because you know that I am sensitive about that sort of thing.
- Although I love a good make-out sesh, your sweet kisses on the forehead still give me butterflies.
- You are the best parent. Probably even better than me, and I’m an excellent parent. But you are better at relating to them. You are fun and yet never burden me with the responsibility of having to be the “bad guy,” which is just really nice.
And finally, I think the best way for me to tell you that I love you is to say the words. Because I know that even if I annoy you sometimes with my inability to dilute the emotions that are always bubbling just below the surface of my skin, you don’t really mind.
That’s actually one of the things you love so much about me. And your way of showing me love is by kissing me sweetly on the forehead and telling me you love me too, even if it is for the 28th time that morning.
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Previously published on Medium.com.
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Photo credit: Debby Hudson on Unsplash