Poor Kyra got poison ivy on her face– across her forehead, along her nose, around her mouth, behind her ears, down her neck.  She must’ve touched a plant when we were weeding for friends, and she scratched and rubbed for a day before I realized what it was.  Her face is deep red and leathery and swollen, and though it doesn’t hurt and barely itches, she’s embarassed because people keep looking at her; it is startlingly red.

This is the third time she’s gotten poison ivy this summer.  Her skin is so sensitive that she reacts with any amount of exposure, and even afer the rash is gone the area stays red for weeks.  And this summer, in about a month, she goes to camp for the first time, meeting tons of new friends…  And she’ll have a splotchy red face.  Ugh– I hurt for her!  I want to take it off of her body and smear it all over my own, just so she won’t have to deal with the stares and questions.

I told her that— that I’d take the rash and the allergy and put it on my own body if I could, so she could have her soft smooth skin back.  She pulled back and looked into my eyes, as if to see if I was telling the truth.  And then she smiled, and her eyes… it was like I could see how content she felt, how loved she knew she was.  That is a cherished moment for me.

I know that I would do anything for my kids.  I would die for them without even thinking about it!  …But do they know it?  Part of the beauty of unconditional love is the recipient being aware of that love, of the immensity of it.  I’m not saying to go tell your kids you’d die for them; it’s too overwhelming and beyond their comprehension.  But when was the last time you told them something deeper than the foundational “I love you”? 

I show my kids my love for them on a daily basis: the cooking and cleaning and training and activities and snuggling and treats are all because I love them.  But don’t we all need to hear it in words, too?  I love the special times that Nate brings me flowers, but to be honest it’s what he’s written in the card that fills my heart.  Try to find a way this week to tell your kids how much you love them, beyond those three little words.