Love is...

This morning, over heart shaped, strawberry filled pancakes, I asked the kids what love means to them. It's an appropriate question, of course, today being Valentine's Day. Here's what they said, verbatim, Frederic first and then Lily:

• Being nice to each other
• Not fighting
• Giving stuff to people
• Telling people you love them

• If you see people, you should give them a hug
• Not saying mean things to each other
• Being nice to each other

I asked the kids what it you should do when you wrong someone, as well. Just to see what they said. Here is what I got, Frederic first and then Lily:

• Acting like you love them
• Say sorry and not doing it again

• Say, 'I won't do it again' and not do it again and not ignore what you said.
• Saying, I'm sorry

I've realized that my kids are smart. Not book smart, but emotion smart. They have healthy dispositions. They understand the value of a human relationship. They understand that if you wrong someone, you need to apologize, and do it with sincerity.

I'm trying to figure out my life with all of this. Parents, in my opinion and in certain things, try to right some wrongs from their own lives. I'm hoping we are on the right track with our kids. I'm hoping that they not only understand the value of human relationships, but grow up to be kind, caring, loving people.

So far, so good.