Do you kiss your child on the lips? I always gave my kids a peck either on the cheek or forehead, but I'm seeing more and more people kissing their kids on their lips. I've even seen adult family members kiss on the lips when greeting each other.

Is it really appropriate to kiss your kids on their lips?
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06-15-04, 04:30 PM
MommyTimesTwo
I kiss my kids on the lips. I see nothing wrong with that. I kiss my dad on the lips too (not my mom though). I guess it depends on the person.

06-15-04, 06:51 PM
Sherasi
I kiss my family members (outside Sagus and the boys) on the cheek. I kiss my boys on the cheek most of the time. Sometimes on the mouth for a quick peck, but not very much. Mostly because they are usually dirty on the mouth! Wink Big Grin

06-15-04, 06:56 PM
methos
It's culture that makes you uncomfortable with it, and it's culture that makes them comfortable with it. In many "old world" cultures, it is so ingrained that no one would think twice about it.

I wouldn't be comfortable doing it, but realize that is cultural and find nothing wrong with others doing it.

06-15-04, 07:26 PM
teeceeum
I used to. Hadn't really thought about it, but I still do occassionally with my daughter (age 34). The boys are 27 & 29. People might look at me funny(er). They all still get hugs though.

06-15-04, 07:33 PM
MommyTimesTwo
Methos

I bet you are exactly right. My family is all very recent immigrants to this country (I'm 3rd generation American) and we find that we tend to do things "differently". Like hiding a (glass) pickle on the Christmas tree. So I bet that is why some people do and others don't.

06-15-04, 07:36 PM
Sarai
My father never kissed me on the lips, but I've known kids who had fathers who did. I don't see anything wrong with it. I agree with Methos- it's cultural.

That said, I'll bet it is becoming less and less common among American men to kiss their children anywhere near the lips. Everywhere you look it seems people are citing statistics about incest and child molestation. The atmosphere in the US with regard to that topic is almost hysterical(not "hysterical" in the funny sense but "hysterical" in the sense of hysteria).

I definitely don't think kissing your child on the lips is anything bad at all, but then I don't think there is anything wrong with a teacher giving a student a hug. However, today few teachers are willing to take the legal or social risk of hugging their students. I suspect physical fatherly affection will soon go the way of the hug from a teacher.

06-15-04, 08:50 PM
jusork
I think I remember kissing my dad on the lips at least once. Definitely my mom quite a few times after leaving out the front door for school.

06-16-04, 02:23 AM
puppyblues
I did when my daughter was little. Now I do with my granddaughter. As they grow older it seems more inappropriate and they don't like it, either Big Grin

Can't keep my lips off my little grandbaby's lips for anything!!! Razz

06-16-04, 08:28 AM
Lydia
Interesting...never really gave it that much thought. My parents always kissed me on the lips when I was a kid...it became on the cheek at some point, but I don't recall when and don't remember if it was because I "turned my cheek" or someone else did. My niece was the same way - we always kissed on the lips until...hmmm, until she turned her cheek (must be as a kid gets older they feel less comfortable with that?). My great niece always gets a peck on the lips. My Nana...ALWAYS kissed me on the lips.

Interesting question...

06-16-04, 10:03 AM
Georgia85
I've never been kissed on the lips by a relative. Actually never been kissed much period. I know my mother would occasionally give me a peck on the cheek but she was the only one. I come from a family who is not demonstrative.

But I have seen people kiss their children on the lips. I find it rather unsettling but that is just my own prudishness coming out I guess.

06-16-04, 11:54 AM
gerry
Where I come from, kissing on the lips is reserved for partners. Everyone else gets a kiss on the cheek, a hug, a warm embrace, a squeeze, whatever, but no kissing on the lips!

06-16-04, 12:22 PM
MommyTimesTwo
See I'm quite the opposite--I kiss my kids and my husband and my dad (and my husband's grandmother, because she insists lol) but I don't even hug friends. I don't like being touched by people I'm not related to.

06-16-04, 01:08 PM
clarebear
I think when my son was 2 or 3 I would kiss him on the lips.

I usually just kissed him on his nose!

(He won't let me kiss him on the nose anymore although sometimes I try!) LOL

06-16-04, 03:07 PM
samantha
My family is not really a kissy family at all except for my dad and he always kisses me. My mom is a hugger as is my brothers.

08-20-04, 01:00 PM
Lucy
I know it may be cultural but it still makes me feel very uncomfortable when I see it. My mom kisses my brother on the lips and I find it very distubing! Eek

08-20-04, 03:21 PM
Elexina
I used to kiss my parents on the lips as a child. Then when we lived in France for a year one of our neighbors said that it was strange. She wasn’t judging or being mean, she was just observing cultural differences, because in Europe only lovers kiss on the lips, as she said.
Made sense to me. After that day, I never kissed my parents on the lips again. I thought she was right. Lips are for lovers.
My sister and brother in-law kiss their children on the lips, but their kids are two and under so it’s still cute. I had a boyfriend in high school who still kissed his mother on the lips. I just thought it was strange, then. That relationship did not last long.
To this day, though, my grandfather still tries to kiss me, and my mother, on the lips. It’s kind of a contest to see who can avoid him and who is too slow.

08-28-04, 01:05 PM
Cyndiluwho_99
My 80 year old mom, and my 19 year old son just came to visit me. I hadn't seen them in over a year.

I kissed 'em both , right on the smacker, and they loved it and kissed me back!

In this mean ol world, I see nothing wrong with families showing affection, whatever form they are comfortable with, and shame on those who want to make something dirty out of it.

08-28-04, 08:30 PM
honilov
Cyndi, it's fine if that's what two adults want to do. However, with kids it can be viewed differently. It just depends on what corner of the world you'll in. Here in Illinois, you have to be very careful when touching and kissing kids.
09-02-04, 11:30 PM
Cyndiluwho_99
That's a sad commentary when you have to be careful of touching your own kids.

I wonder what heinous crimes down the road will be blamed on not getting any parental affection.

Roll Eyes

09-03-04, 12:09 AM
MommyTimesTwo
That's like a comic I saw once. In the first panel it had television saying "Parents should stay out of their kid's lives". The second one was government saying "Parent's don't need to know". The third was a jail saying "Blame it on the parents". The last was empty, and said "Parents: Not available for comment".

09-21-04, 09:09 PM
dodgecity
i kiss both my girls on the smacker and sometimes a cheek they both love it and then there off to school and if there's somebody thats offended by it then they can just come and see me about it! i love my kids and thats that. its not dirty or anything like that its our way of letting each other know that we care and will always be there.ive seem people make a big deal about this kind stuff and you know what mabe they need a kiss too. heh heh anyways i dont see nothing wroung with it and my family members are fine and dandy.sometimes my second daugter dont like to be kissed when her freinds are looking but then there are days when i cant leave with out her giving me a kiss. i let them decide but i always tell them i love um.
im a daddy of two+ mom (ya mom gets a kiss too)
have fun enjoy those children before long there all grown up. thats what my mom tells me every time i see her( by the way mom gets a kiss too)
only you make something of nothing

09-23-04, 07:01 PM
soaringhorse
I get hugs every once in a while, would like more but you know how they are when they are becoming adults. I do tell him I love him, everyday, whether it be when I'm going to work, or on the phone, and I do get an "I love you" back, so I guess he wuvs me, lol. I really am going to have a hard time with letting him fly when it's time, but he's already driving his own car and is getting ready to graduate. So he's getting ready for the real world, with his nose clean, yayyyyyy!

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