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An American woman has noticed a bizarre detail in her Australian husband’s family values, and she doesn’t know how to get over it.
Camille said her husband’s family ‘never’ says they love each other and blamed Australia’s blasé culture.
“Are ‘I love you’ families rare in Australia?” she asked on Reddit. “My family says we love each other when we say goodbye in person, on the phone and just in general.”
‘My husband is Australian through and through. His family doesn’t say “I love you” at all. I’ve never heard any of them say it. It’s so bizarre to me.
‘He thinks Australians find it strange to say it often and to show each other that you love each other in other ways, for example through actions. He seems to think ‘I love you’ families are an American thing.”
An American woman noticed a bizarre detail about her Australian husband’s family values
Hundreds of Australians took part, many agreeing with Camille’s husband and sharing their experiences growing up.
“I grew up in a family where I never heard ‘I love you,’ but I now have three grown children and we say it all the time,” one person said.
‘I tell my children several times a day that I love them. My parents never said it. It was difficult for them. Their parents never told them either. They ruled with discipline, instead of love. I feel like it’s generational, combined with a lack of emotional intelligence. I wish they would say it,” wrote another.
“The men on my father’s side grew up living under the motto ‘I don’t need love from my children, I need respect’, so they show little affection,” one woman revealed.
‘My grandmother never said it to me, but I don’t remember being upset. I remember noticing it and thinking about it. It didn’t mean she didn’t love me, just that she wasn’t used to saying it,” one woman said.
But other Australians considered themselves ‘lucky’ to be part of affectionate families.
‘I feel so lucky that my mother was always very demonstrative with her love. She was born in 1947, so she was part of the baby boomer and hippie generation, and you get a total mix of that.
“She’s one of the most motherly people ever, so she doesn’t lack affection for anyone. Mother of the world, excellent cook, top mother,” said one.
“My family is an ‘I love you’ family – we say it so often that my favorite Lorikeet says it too,” one woman said.
‘I think it’s weird not to tell the people you love that you love them. Family, friends and pets all included,” one man wrote.
The affection has sometimes led to hilarious circumstances.
“I say it so often to my family that sometimes I accidentally say it to colleagues when I hang up the phone,” one man joked.