Recently I was watching television. I can't remember the show, but it was one of those awkward moments in a conversation when someone says "I love you," maybe for the first time, and the other person pauses. This is never good. Even if the return is "I love you, too" you've got a mess. It got me to thinking about how much we expect love to be reciprocated. If I love you, I expect for you to love me back, without any pauses.
My better half and I have always engaged in what I call "love banter" (don't worry, it's rated "G"). It is a way of taking the traditional "I Love You" to another level. When my better half tells me "I love you" (this only works well when she starts it, fortunately for me she does usually start it). I respond with "I love you more." Then, she replies, "I love you most" (she's an English Teacher so she has superlatives down cold). I'm not an English teacher, so I respond with, "I love you more than most" (trying to add humor by emphasizing the meaning "I love you more than most people, which is the correct grammatical interpretation, I think).
Evidently, this has rubbed off on our offspring. Except that our 4-year-old (soon to be 5!) has it somewhat confused. His rendition of the competitive love is to shut it down and score the point. So, if you tell him, "I love you." He replies with "I love you the most, what did I say? I win!" And, then will follow that immediately with another "I love you the most, what did I say? I win!" If you try to respond with the same, he will increase his volume and speed. What then ensues is a pandemonium of love -- as everyone tries to one-up the other in the amount of love, the speed of the love, and the volume of the love.
BIT: Low and behold, it's in scripture -- Romans 12:10: "love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." (RSVP). I love you! -- Let the pandemonium begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment