Oh yes to the "I love you" too! it must have been a generation thing... Both DH's and my parents rarely expressed any kind of approval let alone an "i love you". We tell our kids daily... sometimes several times a day... and yes we broke the cycle of detached parenting. Though it's not as if our parents were totally heartless... just that their focus was on giving us the stuff they didn't get as children... my mother also never had many clothes as a child which is why she proudly sewed everythign for my sister and i... maybe the biggest gift is to actually LISTEN to our kids?