Love In Action

Today is Valentine’s Day. Normally, Valentine’s Day is not a big deal to my hubby and I. Sure, we sometimes give each other small gifts on this day but as far as I can remember we’ve only gone out on a date to celebrate Valentine’s Day once in the past almost 9 years that we’ve been together. Not that we don’t appreciate romance. It’s just that at this time in our family life, going out on a date is impossible because we can’t leave our little boys with anyone.

Besides, Valentine’s Day is so commercialized already. It’s not really about what material gift we can give each other on this day. What matters most is how we show our love for each other. We show love through our actions.

My hubby is a man of a few words. He’s not into small talk. It takes much prodding before you can get a full story out of him. However, when it comes to deeds, he doesn’t fall short. Even if he doesn’t say it, I know he loves me and our kids because of what he does for us. His love language is ACTS OF SERVICE. Some of the things he does for us include:

Cooking and Washing Dishes

Even though I’ve learned to cook a lot during the past 3 or 4 years, I still believe that hubby is the better cook. He likes to experiment with dishes. His creations are always tasty no matter if he just mixed up a variety of different ingredients. While he doesn’t have much time to cook during the week, he makes it a point to give me a break on the weekends and does the cooking himself.

Just this morning, on Valentine’s Day, he got home from work and proceeded to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for me and the boys. These are the mini pancakes with strawberry syrup that he prepared for me. Sweet!

When it comes to washing the dishes, I’m usually the one who does it. But when he sees I’m busy, he does it himself. I really appreciate this because we usually have to wash a lot of dishes since there are five of us in the house, sometimes seven. Good thing we use Bubble Man dish washing liquid. It just makes dish washing easier and faster.

We tried Bubble Man for the first time last year and we really loved it because it really is a safe, effective and affordable dish washing liquid. It doesn’t dry our hands at all because it doesn’t contain harsh chemicals, making it very environment-friendly too. Also, it removes dirt and grease easily, which means you spend less time washing dishes. The dishes smell good too! Bubble Man actually comes in three scents, Lemon, Calamansi and Antibac.

Plus, it’s safe to use for baby bottles! While I’m exclusively breastfeed our baby, we let him drink expressed breastmilk occasionally when I need to attend an event. So good to know I no longer need to buy a separate bottle cleanser for Zander’s bottles.

Fixing Things Around the House

Hubby is usually quiet but he’s always paying attention to everything and everyone around him. He’s always looking around for something to fix or repair. If there’s nothing to repair, he looks for stuff in the house that he can improve to make our lives better. Oftentimes, he’d see me having difficulty with something around the house and wouldn’t say anything. Little did I know, he was already thinking of ways how to make the situation better for me.

For instance, he made designed a shelf for my books and planners. He had it made then installed it himself at my workstation. He also DIY’d a magnet board for me – in purple, of course, because it’s my favorite color.

Taking Care of the Kids

He has always been a hands-on dad even when we didn’t have our boys yet. He helped me take care and raise my two daughters, Zoe and Ziya. Even if they’re just his stepkids, he never made me or them feel that he loves them any less. He’s always thinking of all four kids and is constantly coming up with ways to make them feel comfortable, happy and loved.

He takes care of baby Zander, changes his diapers, plays with him and puts him to sleep, even if he’s already tired from work. He tends to Ziggy when he sees I’m busy taking care of the baby. He provides for them to the best of his ability.

Being the dad, he also teaches our son, Ziggy, to help me around the house. As early as two years old, Ziggy already had his own chores. Now that he’s almost six years old, he can already do more in terms of house chores and my hubby encourages him to do that. Here he washing a wash cloth for me (still using Bubble Man!), which we used for a homeschool Science experiment.

All-around Driver

I don’t drive. I prefer to commute instead. But hubby prefers not to let me commute and would rather drive me to my destination. It doesn’t matter if it’s near or far. It doesn’t matter if he’s too tired from work. He would take me to attend blogging events or meetings. He’s supportive like that. It feels good to know he’s taking care of me.

I admit it’s sometimes frustrating whenever the hubby is silent. But I’ve since learned to accept him as he is and to appreciate the things he does to show us he loves us. After all, actions speak louder than words. I don’t trust words, I trust actions. Words mean nothing to me because actions speak the truth.

So this Valentine’s Day, rather than just saying “I love you”, show your loved ones you love them.

To my hubby, thank you for everything that you do for us. Always know that we appreciate you and are grateful for all that you do. I only hope you also feel our never-ending love for you. Happy Hearts Day!!!