When dating my ex-girlfriend (now wife - of 33 years!) I realized how much I heard her parents tell their three kids the most important 3 words a kid can hear from a parent - "I love you!"
I didn't hear it much - actually almost never - from my own Mom or Dad. Once we had our kids - I made the extra effort to use those 3 words every day possible.
My son and daughter are the most important things on this earth to me, right next to my wife. And they all three know it.