It all began as we were standing in front of the bathroom mirror, me fixing Amanda’s blonde hair. I said, “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.” A country she’s learning about from 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. “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 I knew more than she did. I thought I knew at least everything that she knew. However, my four-year-old daughter knows more about love than her 28-year-old mom.

事情發生時，我們倆正站在浴室的鏡子前，我替阿曼達梳理她的一頭金發。我說，“我愛你，阿曼達。”“我也愛你，”她回答。“噢，是的，”我嘲弄她。“好吧，我愛你更多。”當她意識到另一場關于“我愛你”的口舌之爭拉開帷幕時，她的眼睛閃閃發亮。“吶，”她大笑著說，“我最愛你。”我回敬道：“我對你的愛比一座火山還要大!”這句話是我們愛的爭奪戰中最受歡迎的家庭用語。“可，媽媽，我對你的愛從這里一直延伸到中國。”這是她從我們街那頭新來的鄰居那兒學到的國家名稱。我們用這些美言你來我往地斗了幾個回合。“我愛你勝過愛花生醬。”“噢，我愛你勝過愛電視機。”“我愛你甚至超過愛泡泡糖。”又輪到我了，我決定使出殺手锏：“我對你的愛超越整個宇宙!”每次用這招都會勝出的。可今天，阿曼達不打算“善罷甘休”。我看得出她正絞盡腦汁。“媽媽，”她平靜地說， “我愛你勝過愛我自己。”我頓時無言以對，目瞪口呆。女兒的真誠讓我折服。我原以為，我比她懂得更多。我以為，至少她知道的事情我都知道。可是，我那4歲的寶貝女兒比她28歲的媽媽更懂得愛。

（兼職編輯：張博）