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 theuniverse!” 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.

事情发生时，我们俩正站在浴室的镜子前，我替阿曼达梳理她的一头金发。我说，“我爱你，阿曼达。”“我也爱你，”她回答。“噢，是的，”我嘲弄她。“好吧，我爱你更多。”当她意识到另一场关于“我爱你”的口舌之争拉开帷幕时，她的眼睛闪闪发亮。“呐，”她大笑着说，“我最爱你。”我回敬道：“我对你的爱比一座火山还要大!”这句话是我们爱的争夺战中最受欢迎的家庭用语。“可，妈妈，我对你的爱从这里一直延伸到中国。”这是她从我们街那头新来的邻居那儿学到的国家名称。我们用这些美言你来我往地斗了几个回合。“我爱你胜过爱花生酱。”“噢，我爱你胜过爱电视机。”“我爱你甚至超过爱泡泡糖。”又轮到我了，我决定使出杀手锏：“我对你的爱超越整个宇宙!”每次用这招都会胜出的。可今天，阿曼达不打算“善罢甘休”。我看得出她正绞尽脑汁。“妈妈，”她平静地说，“我爱你胜过爱我自己。”我顿时无言以对，目瞪口呆。女儿的真诚让我折服。我原以为，我比她懂得更多。我以为，至少她知道的事情我都知道。可是，我那4岁的宝贝女儿比她28岁的妈妈更懂得爱。