A new way to say "I love you"

My youngest daughter is a rebel, and, unfortunately, I think I sometimes encourage it.

Each day I drop my two youngest children off at school. It's at least the second year in a row I've done it full time.

I have this little thing I do that I think started with Rebekah, but I'm not sure. One day I dropped off her or another child and before they could get inside the school I rolled down my window and, along with everybody in the car, started yelling "We love you, Rebekah!"

I thought it was a fun way to show my love and embarrass the children at the same time. I think I've done it multiple times to every one of my kids. In fact, Emma and I did it to Isaac Monday morning.

This morning something a little different happened. I dropped Isaac off and quietly told him I loved him as he was getting out the rear door. After he was on the sidewalk and we had started driving away, Emma, my five-year-old daughter, unrolled the window.

It was with a hint of pride that I waited for her to loudly proclaim her love for her brother. This time, I would let her do it on her own. Once the window was down, she stuck her little head out and in a loud and clear voice said to Isaac, "Hey, you smell like pancakes!"

What went wrong? How could this happen to me?

I tried not to laugh because I don't really want to encourage such behavior. A few minutes later, I pulled up to Emma's school to drop her off. By then her comment was pretty much a distant memory, but I still couldn't help myself.

She had gotten out of the car and was about to shut the door. That is usually when I tell her "I love you" and wish her a good day, but this morning it seemed more appropriate to say, "Hey, YOU smell like pancakes!"

She got a wide grin on her face, shut the car door and I went into the building still smiling.

Even though I didn't say "I love you" to Emma this morning, I'm confident she knows I love her because sometimes the best way to say "I love you" is to not say it at all.