Anonymous wrote:1) Did your parents/family say this often?
2) Do you and spouse say it often to each other?
3) Do you tell your kids this often, and do they say it back?
My mother said this to me every night when I was growing up, and whenever I saw her once I was an adult, and on phone calls. (my dad died when I was young, hence I'm mentioning just my mother)
My spouse and I don't say it every single day now that I think of it. That's fine. Been married 30 years and love each other very much.
I tell our college age DC this almost every day -- we text most days at least a brief goodnight with "I love you." DC reciprocates.
My late brother and I were very different people; we didn't fight, we just had little in common and saw little of each other. We never said it to each other as kids/teens/young adults. But in recent years after our mom died, we became closer and had fun together, and ended conversations on the phone or goodbyes in person with "Love you." I'm glad for that, because he died very unexpectedly two years ago.