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When I say to my son, "you're so cute," my husband always says to me, "you're such a doting mother."
In our country, Japan, it's traditionally considered unvirtuous to praise family members. This idea has created the words "gusoku" and "gusai", which are condescending appellations describing "my son" and "my wife", respectively.
I dislike this sort of tradition because I think that we can't communicate love to each other without verbalizing it. My father didn't express his love to me and I never thought that he loved me. I don't want my son to have the same kinds of negative feelings I had. So, I always try to say things that have a positive influence, even though my husband's teasing is annoying
One of my son's friends has an American father. Every morning, I hear him say to his daughter, "I love you" when leaving for work. Although his daughter looks a little bit embarrassed, I envy them, thinking what a great custom they have.
I don't want to stop saying "I love you" to my son, even if other Japanese, including my husband, tease us.
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