English Original
It all began as we were standing in front of the bathroom mirror, me fixing Amanda's fine, blonde hair. I was putting in the final elastic of a spunky pair of ponytails and finished with, "I love you, Amanda."
"And, I love you," she replied.
"Oh, yeah," I taunted. "Well, I love you more."
Her eyes lit up as she recognized the cue for the start of another "I love you more" match. "Nuh-uh," she laughed, "I love you the most."
"I love you bigger than a volcano!" I countered—a favorite family phrase in these battles of love.
"But, Mom, I love you from here to China," she said, a country she's learning about thanks to our new neighbors up the street.
We volleyed back and forth a few favorite lines. "I love you more than peanut butter." "Well, I love you more than television." "I even love you more than bubble gum."
It was my turn again, and I made the move that usually brings victory. "Too bad, chickadee. I love you bigger than the universe!"
On this day, however, Amanda was not going to give up. I could see she was thinking. "Mom," she said in a quiet voice, "I love you more than myself."
I stopped. Dumbfounded. Overwhelmed by her sincerity. Here I thought that I knew more than she did. I thought I knew at least everything that she knew. But I didn't know this. My four-year-old daughter knows more about love than her twenty-eight-year-old mom. And somehow she loves me more than herself.
Christie A. Hansen
Contributing author, Chicken Soup for the Soul
Photo's for Mom's
中文翻译
一切始于我们站在浴室镜子前，我正为阿曼达梳理她漂亮的金发。我为她那对活泼的马尾辫扎上最后一根橡皮筋，最后说道：“我爱你，阿曼达。”
“我也爱你，”她回答。
“哦，是吗，”我逗她，“嗯，我爱你更多。”
她的眼睛亮了起来，她听出了这是又一场“我爱你更多”比赛的信号。“才不是呢，”她笑着说，“我最爱你。”
“我爱你比火山还大！”我反击道——这是我们家庭爱情比拼中最喜欢用的一句话。
“但是，妈妈，我爱你从这里到中国那么远，”她说。她正在了解中国，这要感谢我们街上的新邻居。
我们你来我往地抛出了几句最喜欢的台词。“我爱你胜过花生酱。”“嗯，我爱你胜过电视。”“我甚至爱你胜过泡泡糖。”
又轮到我了，我使出了通常能带来胜利的一招。“太可惜了，小家伙。我爱你比宇宙还大！”
然而，在那一天，阿曼达不打算放弃。我能看出她在思考。“妈妈，”她轻声说道，“我爱你胜过爱我自己。”
我停了下来。目瞪口呆。被她真挚的情感所淹没。我一直以为自己懂得比她多。我以为自己至少知道她所知道的一切。但我不知道这一点。我四岁的女儿比她二十八岁的妈妈更懂得爱。而且，不知何故，她爱我胜过爱她自己。
克里斯蒂·A·汉森
《心灵鸡汤》供稿作者
《给妈妈的照片》