“Is it just me, or do other people find it odd when parents kiss their kids on the lips?” This was a genuine question I posed to my partner during my first pregnancy. To me, it seemed straightforward: lips are for romantic partners, and that’s that.
Little did I know, my perspective was about to be challenged. My partner, Jake, insisted, “I plan to kiss our kids on the lips.” To him, it was just a normal expression of love. I figured he came from a family that was extra affectionate, so I decided to gather some opinions from my mom friends for clarity.
Surprisingly, I learned I was the outlier. Many parents are perfectly comfortable giving their kids a kiss on the lips. Perhaps it’s because my upbringing wasn’t particularly touchy-feely. While I still hug my parents goodnight and occasionally annoy my mom by climbing into her lap, physical affection wasn’t a staple in our family. My dad had kissed me on the cheek a handful of times, and strangely, I found that completely acceptable. In my mind, we were quite affectionate.
I never thought there was anything wrong with kissing a child on the lips; it simply wasn’t something I was used to, making it difficult for me to envision it as a natural display of love. However, motherhood has a way of stirring up unexamined beliefs, pushing you to take a stance.
Then came the day my daughter, Ella, was born—a healthy, snuggly newborn. I adored cuddling her, hugging her, and kissing her cheeks, forehead, and even her tiny toes. Yet, I still hesitated to kiss her on the lips. It just felt strange. That is, until she initiated it herself.
Before I knew it, she was crawling and giggling, and one day, while I was folding cloth diapers nearby, she rolled over, climbed up on my leg, and planted a big, drooly kiss right on my lips. That moment was unforgettable. Despite not having kissed her on the lips before, she decided it was time to express her affection her way, and that included those sweet lip kisses.
In that instant, everything shifted for me. Ella’s innocent gesture transformed my feelings about kissing my kids on the lips. It was a pivotal moment in my journey as a mom, one of many that reshaped my long-held beliefs. Suddenly, I was all in—I understood that there was nothing strange about it at all. Of course, I would never force my children into any form of affection they weren’t comfortable with, but now, lip kisses became a natural expression of our love.
Fast forward to today: that drooly baby is now 5, and her little brother, Leo, is 4. I find myself kissing both of them on the lips regularly, and we all consider it completely normal. If that feels odd to you, I totally understand; we each have our own boundaries for personal reasons. But if you’re on board with it, I get that too—now.
For further reading about parenting and fertility, check out our other blog posts, like this one about navigating your couples’ fertility journey for intracervical insemination here. Also, if you’re interested in boosting fertility, this resource on fertility supplements is worth a look. For a broader understanding of pregnancy, you can find excellent information on the NICHD website.
In summary, my journey from perceiving lip kisses as strange to embracing them highlights the transformative nature of motherhood. It reminds us that sometimes, our children can reshape our views in the most beautiful ways.
Keyphrase: kissing kids on the lips
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