A friend of mine posted a link on the More than just a Mother Facebook page to a really interesting blog post about kissing. The essence of the piece is simple – should you kiss your children on the mouth? The answer of course is just as straight forward – you should do whatever feels right for you and your family – but it raised an interesting debate. My friend Charlotte was quite clear about her views. “Cheek for family. Cheeks, forehead, noses, fingers for my son but not the mouth. Lips are for partners only.”
I’m a lip-kisser. My children give big slobbery mouth kisses and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m making the most of it before they grow up and barely deign to brush my cheek with theirs, let alone give me a kiss. Thinking back to my own childhood, I always kissed my father on the lips, and that extended into adulthood. Kisses between family members – or between good friends – aren’t sexual, they have no hidden agenda. They’re just kisses.
This morning my daughter sat on my lap and showered me with kisses. A thousand butterfly touches across my face, then a stream of lip kisses coming faster and faster till she burst out laughing with the dizziness. I love it.
How do you kiss your family?