The Language Of Love

As you know, my Mom is in town for a visit this week. She's been working hard at spoiling all of us. I got to sneak back to bed yesterday morning after a really rough night with Thomas. And Samantha has her tongue-tied with all the books they've been reading...no less than 20 just yesterday! And the big kids...coloring, reading, swing pushing, walking, etc. And Thomas. Well, that kid just can hardly tolerate being put down, and he weighs almost 18 pounds...quite the little back-breaker, he is. I'm not even going to talk about the dishes and shopping and laundry and vacuuming she's been doing. Yes...I make her earn her keep when she visits ;)

I'm afraid mom will never come back if the work load doesn't lighten up a bit!

I was tucking my kids into bed last night, and I was asking them about their day. I always ask, "Did you have a nice day?", "What was your favorite part?", and "What was your least favorite part?" Benjamin took me by surprise with his answers last night.

Yes, he had a good day.

And his favorite part? "Getting a big scratch on my arm"

"No, I said you favorite part, not your least favorite."

"I know! Getting a scratch was my favorite."

"What?! Why? Didn't it hurt?"

"Well, yeah. But then Grandma helped me. She kissed me and hugged me and said I could have a band-aid. And then she said I did a really great job of putting the band-aid on."

"So you liked getting hurt, just so Grandma could help you?"

"Yeah. Grandma could have just said 'oh, it's just a scratch, you're fine'. But she helped me instead. That's how she loved me - by taking good care of me. Grandma loved me - that's all."

Well...I was pretty much out of words after that exchange with my little 6 year old man!

But he got me thinking. He had never articulated so clearly before just what makes him feel loved. I tell my kids all the time...I mean ALL. THE. TIME. that I love them. But it sounds like my little Ben speaks a different "love language".

I know...the "love language" thing has been done already. Honestly, I haven't read any of the books on the subject yet. As I understand it though, the general idea is that we all feel the most loved when someone shows their love for us in our "primary love language".

There are five. Here they are:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Quality Time
3. Receiving of Gifts
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch

What is your primary love language? You can click HERE to take a quick quiz and find out. It might be fun to have your kids or spouse take the quiz too and compare notes with them.

Good thing for my Hubby and our budget...I scored the lowest on Gifts. But hey...if he ever gets sick of emptying the dishwasher or giving me foot rubs...diamonds are always good.