What Is Love?

Baby don't hurt me.. Don't hurt me... No more... *Insert awesomely lame dance sequence here*

     Oh shit. How long have you been there? I wasn't dancing! Really. You saw nothing. Got it? Great, let's move on.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, and lovey-dovey-make-me-wanna-puke crap is everywhere I turn, I suppose now is a good time to take a moment to reflect on Love. I think it's pretty safe to say that everyone has their own personal definition of love. While I think that "Love" is really a bit of a sadist, I'll play nice.. This is just my take.

What I think Love is:

• The smile that you find plastered across your face every single time you think of that special person.

•  Counting the minutes until you get to be in their arms again. And never wanting to leave once your safe and sound in them.

• The fluttering feeling you get deep in your tummy when you see them. You know, the one that gets so intense you fear you may just projectile vomit live butterflies across the room. 

• That tingle of electricity that courses through your body at the slightest touch. Especially when they take your hand in theirs. Even for the millionth time.

• Looking into their eyes and seeing your love returned to you, ten fold.

• Knowing that you will love that person just as much, if not more, when you are old and grey and screaming at them to turn up their damn hearing aide.

• Wanting only the best for them, even if the best for them doesn't include you.

What I think Love should really be:

• Waking your tired ass up with the baby so that she can catch up on some much needed sleep.

• Not bitching at him for leaving the damn toilet seat up. Again. Even after you sit down and fall in.

• Wrangling the lil monsters up so she can piss...in...peace.

• Letting him have his "Guy Time" without texting or calling him every 10 minutes to see when he'll be home.

• Offering to wash the damn dishes after she cooks you an awesome meal. Better yet? Buy her a dishwasher, damn it.

• After a long hard day at work, bring him a nice cold beer and give him a nice long shoulder and back rub. Listen when he tells you about his day.

• After a long hard day with the kiddies, bring her a cold shot of Jameson and give her a nice back rub. Ask her about her day. And actually listen, no matter how much detail she goes into about peas and carrots, or cheerios and puke. Better make that a double.

• Not scrunching up your nose and asking "what the fuck died in here??" when he takes his shoes off.

• Taking her into your arms and telling her how beautiful she is. Even when she has the aforementioned peas smeared across her shirt and cheerios in her hair.

•  Pay him a compliment once in a while. Tell him how hot you think he is after so many years. How gorgeous his eyes are, how much you love his strong arms, how his smile makes you smile. We don't compliment our men enough. They do like to hear these things too, ya know!

• Tell her how much you appreciate all that she does to keep your house running smooth. The cooking, the cleaning, tending to the kiddies. Cleaning up puke. Dancing like a goof to celebrate a lil one successfully taking a crap in the potty without picking it up to play. Too damn often we feel taken for-granted. And a whooole lot of trouble starts with that.

• And ladies, tell him how much you appreciate how hard he busts his ass at work for you and your family. They need to hear that.

     Above all else: Yes, say I love you. Say it often. But try and SHOW it even more than you SAY it. Actions really do speak louder than words.