Do You Have trouble saying the words: " I Love You" to your parents? (father, person)

[crusinforabrusin]

For some reason, I can't say I Love You to my parents, especially my dad. I just feel uncomfortable saying it. So Do you also have trouble saying I Love You to your parents to?

[cindersslipper]

I never said it to my my mother and she never said it to me. I think I said it to my dad as an adult, and meant it, not long before he died.

I came from a horrible family though.

Love was literally a 4 letter word. No one said it.

I say it all the time to my kids and partners and friends. And I hug them and kiss them too.

It took a long time but moving to Australia was part of it. People are just more demonstrative here, so it becomes far more natural. You can learn it, just like anything else.

Warmer climates tend to be like that.

[picklejuice]

Nope. I wish they were here now so I could say it/ tell it to them just one more time. (RIP)

[irootoo]

Originally Posted by cindersslipper

I never said it to my my mother and she never said it to me. I think I said it to my dad as an adult, and meant it, not long before he died.

I came from a horrible family though.

Love was literally a 4 letter word. No one said it.

I say it all the time to my kids and partners and friends. And I hug them and kiss them too.

It took a long time but moving to Australia was part of it. People are just more demonstrative here, so it becomes far more natural. You can learn it, just like anything else.

Warmer climates tend to be like that.

Sadly, this pretty much depicts my experience with my parents, too. Both are now deceased.

I think I said, "I love you" to my mom exactly one time, when I was in my 30s and was having a life crisis. We were on the phone, and I can still feel the horribly awkward pause as she probably tried to find a way to get out of having to say it back to me. She did finally get it out, at which point she was so palpably uncomfortable that I wished I hadn't said it.

I never said it to my dad until he had dementia and was in a nursing home. He had little or no idea who I was. But he looked happy whenever I said it.

I never said it to my older brother until he was dying of cancer. He was able to say it back to me. I will be forever grateful for the fact that even though neither of us was raised to say, "I love you," we both took a chance and said it to each other before he was gone.

My advice is, make the effort and commit to saying it often enough that it becomes second nature and doesn't feel awkward anymore. You will be glad in the end that you did.

[imagineAA]

Yes because I am not accustomed to it. It just wasn't done when I was young.

I feel equally odd when other people say, "Love you," to each other as a substitute for, "Goodbye," when done disingenuously.

[HighFlyingBird]

My parents said it a lot so I had no trouble saying it. I do love them but we aren't in contact because of their mental health issues/abuse history.

[Basiliximab]

Originally Posted by crusinforabrusin

For some reason, I can't say I Love You to my parents, especially my dad. I just feel uncomfortable saying it. So Do you also have trouble saying I Love You to your parents to?

Yes, for my father. We are real distant and hardly ever say it. I understand what you mean.

Originally Posted by imagineAA

I feel equally odd when other people say, "Love you," to each other as a substitute for, "Goodbye," when done disingenuously.

I feel that way too; it's not a word I toss around lightly. Most of the time I won't return that sort of farewell and would say the normal good-bye.

[The Dissenter]

I would have a major issue saying it to my father if he were alive today because I despised his treatment of me. While I generally have no problem saying it to my mother I don't feel our relationship is that deep of love.

[ConstructiveCritism]

I say those words constantly to my mother. I do though, find it hard to show any sort of emotion to my father. My father doesn't know how to react.

I've only said "I love you" to him, a few times over my life. I suppose that is terrible but that's just the way it is, can't really change it.

[ForLoveOnly]

Nope. It's very normal to me. I love my parents and I know they love me.

I would be very upset if we didn't say it before we hung the phone or were saying goodbye in person.