As a perceptive child, I cleverly noticed every little thing my parents did wrong in raising me and I swore not to make the mistakes they made with me. One of the chief things was I was going to do differently was to tell my kids I loved them all the time. And I do. I remember seeing television specials about this exact subject. Parents needed to tell their kids they loved them more.

So now I’m all grown up and I tell my kids I love them all the time. Seriously, not a day goes by without hugs and kisses.

And I’m not the only one. I hear it a lot from parents.

When I was a kid if we heard any parent say to a kid that they loved him, it was instant Lord of the Flies time. It was chum in the water. We’d all be blowing the kid kisses, rhyming his name, and singing that he was sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g his Mom. We were idiots.

But today, I see parents gather on the sidelines at soccer practice and when the kids come over for water all the parents make sure they’re hydrated, they compliment them that they are the most awsomely awesome soccer player in that time zone, and they tell them they love them. And that’s the new normal. And there’s plenty right and wonderful about that. Because I’m usually chasing three or four other children, the most my kids can usually get from me on the sideline is me throwing a water bottle near them and maybe a wink. But I’m the exception on the sideline. I’m telling you that this generation of children is likely the most verbally loved generation this country has ever known.

So how come kids seem to be getting worse?

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