What is love?

The other day, Allie and I had had a fairly rough day discipline-wise. At one point, after she had gotten her hundredth (it seemed) spanking and we talked and hugged it out, she asked me, "Mommy, do you still love me?"

"Of course I do," I immediately answered her. 

In fact, I always make it a point to tell her I love her after any type of discipline or rough patch, because I want her to know that my love for her isn't based on what she does or doesn't do, or how she acts. 

I asked her if she knew what 'unconditional love' meant, and she said no. So I explained that whether or not she listens and obeys, or if she's tired and grumpy or radiant and happy, or if she's copping an attitude or speaking sweetly -- no matter what, I do and will always love her.

When I think of loving someone, especially my child or my husband or another family member, I always think of it as being willing to die for that person. And while that is true, I think the chances of a "me or them" situation cropping up is probably slim to none. 

So I started thinking -- what are some practical ways to think of love?

* Love is opening up a tube of those pressurized Pillsbury dough rolls so your family can have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

* Love is eating the cold, mess-up pancake scraps so your kid can have a perfect pancake princess castle and fairy.

* Love is keeping the house at 65 degrees at night so your husband can sleep comfortably.

* Love is sleeping on the floor next to your daughter's bed when she's scared of the storm.

* Love is sitting on the floor because your sleeping daughter, fat cat, and Dane are taking up both the entire sofa and the arm chair.

* Love is eating the lollipop part of a blow-pop and giving the middle gum part to your daughter.

* Love is watching an episode of Daniel Tiger when Judge Judy is on.

* Love is letting your daughter help with the laundry, dishes, and cleaning, even though you could've done it all twice as fast by yourself.

* Love is letting your daughter lick the brownie batter spoon even though you really wanted to.

* Love is running outside in the rain and jumping in puddles because your daughter loves it, even though you hate being wet.

* Love is swallowing your fear, putting on a brave face, and killing the spider in the entryway because your husband is at work and it's just you and your just-as-arachnophobic-as-you-are daughter at home. (Also, love could be trapping the spider under a bowl, piling books on top of it, and leaving a note for your husband to please kill it when he gets home from work.)

* Love is letting your four-year-old decorate the Christmas tree, resulting in all the ornaments adorning only the bottom half of the tree.

* Love is wearing a Little Mermaid band-aid to your psychiatrist appointment because you bought Disney princess band-aids instead of regular ones.

* Love is reading Dr. Seuss' 'Fox in Socks' book three times in a row upon request.

I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones I came up with off the top of my head right now.