Don’t Understand

Question:

Im a big fan of alice books – i read all of them lastsummer and recently read  alice on board twice. I can’t wait for always alice and i was rly sad to find it will be the last book.
I myself am a writer and language arts  is my favourite subject.
You are a great inspiration even tho i  normally enjoy magic books. I am even writing my own book and have a wordpress writing blog.
Id like to know one thing i couldn’t figure out:
I dont umderstand that game alice plays with her father
Like me
Rivers
Love me
Oceans
Plz explain

Phyllis replied:

It’s one of those nonsense family things that only mean a lot to the two people themselves.  It’s a little ritual to show how fond they are of each other.   When Alice asks her dad, “Like me?” she’s asking how much he likes her.  And his answer is “Rivers,” as in “rivers and rivers of liking her. ” And still not satisfied, she asks, “Love me?” to which he replies, “Ocean,” as in “oceans of love.”  It’s lame, it’s corny, but it means a lot to them because it started when Alice was very young.