Hilary Duff posted a sweet pic to Instagram, above, of her kissing her four year-old son, Luca, at Disneyland in front of the Small World ride. It was a nice moment, one I’ve had with my own son many times, captured on film. Only Hilary posted it to the Internet, where it’s open season on just about everything. People made stupid comments because that’s what they do. Hilary then posted a follow-up Instagram telling them to mind their business basically. You can see the obnoxious comments on Huffpo if you’re interested, I’m not going to give them any space.
My son isn’t even a teen yet and he’s taller than me. It’s such a cliche to say it goes so fast but it really does. If there’s one thing I won’t regret about parenting, it’s kissing my kid on the lips. (I’m lucky if he lets me kiss his head now, but that’s another story.) That’s totally normal in my family and I still kiss my mom and dad on the lips. I get that it’s not for everyone, but there’s nothing wrong with it and in some cultures it’s common. Besides, half the people commenting rudely are probably only just out of short pants themselves. Hilary didn’t have to respond to this at all, the other commenters would have taken care of it for her, but she also knows how the press works and she wisely took advantage of this opportunity. I’ll give her this one.
Also, today is the anniversary of Newtown. Our kids are precious to us, they are everything, and just imagining what any parent who has lost a child has gone through makes my heart sink. Love your kids today and every day. Love all kids, nice people and pets. Let’s have a group hug.
How cute is this picture?!! I want to go to Disneyland now.
Thanks to Huffpo for the idea for this story. Photos credit: FameFlynet and Instagram/Hilary Duff
Honestly, I’m a little grossed out by it because…herpes. I’ve never had a cold sore in my life, but I also didn’t come from a kissy family. I don’t think they necessarily correspond, but children do acquire herpes from adults.
if you’re grossed out by herpes then you should stop kissing anybody, altogether.
You’re saying that I shouldn’t be grossed out by that? I imagine the more people you open your mouth to the more chances you have, therefore I am put off by it, especially children who have weaker immune systems.
@ell – There’s no risk of getting herpes from someone who doesn’t have it, so your comment doesn’t make sense.
@Allie B. – Herpes is the first thing that I thought about, too. While parents can kiss or not kiss, my mom always kissed us on the forehead or cheek, and we did the same. For that, I’m very grateful. I didn’t have my first kiss until 7th grade, and intentionally never dated someone who ever had a cold sore.
One of my exes had a sister who would get cold sores and would kiss her baby on the mouth whether it was active or not. I freaked out when I saw that he was kissing his niece on the lips and demanded that he stop. Sure enough, the poor little girl had a cold sore before she was six years old; luckily, my ex didn’t, but he really risked it.
For those who want to do more research, it’s also thought that kissing on the lips can pass on being fat as well. And of course, it can pass on germs that cause illness. People with herpes 1 – usually oral – can pass that on to genitals, and people with 1 or 2 on their genitals can pass it on to both other genitals and to the mouth. It’s not a small thing to give a child something that he or she will have to live with for the rest of his or her life. Certainly, it is the parents’ right to do it, but I don’t think it’s fair to the child.
@Jag kissing on the lips can NOT pass on being fat, but if you read it on the Internet, you go right ahead and take it as truth
Allie B., I got oral herpes from a kindergartener. So I understand your fear. We didn’t kiss, we shared a cup… and the cold sores will recur for the rest of my life.
I’m a lot more careful around little kid germs now.
That sucks Brittney, it can happen to any of us, which is why we should just avoid inadvertently passing on anything to kids. In your case it happened in a way we don’t think about so much. Atleast suppression therapy is better now. @Jag, those are the images that freak me out because I’ve seen it happen with kids who can’t even walk yet. It’s just not worth it.
My son is in preschool and my mother-in-law kisses him on the lips. I have told her that I don’t like it, but I know she does it when he’s at her house.
lol nevermind!
Something like 50% of people end up with some strain of herpes. It’s not a huge deal. Yeah it’s great to not have it but really, it’s not some curse. So many people carry the strains and are asymptomatic or have one outburst and never again. Whatever!
If it makes her son feel loved and supported and safe, it’s well worth it.
Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but here no one kisses their relatives on the lips. So it does feel icky to me, I’m not going to lie. And I don’t see it as sexual, but it’s just weird.
My family is very affectionate, but kissing on the lips is reserved for your significant other.
Where do you live? I live in the upper Midwest of the US and everyone here kisses family on the lips!
I live in the upper midwest, too, (east coast raised)- I have never seen this practice IRL, but to each his/her own.
I live in the upper Midwest as well and I kiss my kids on the lips but not my parents or anyone else besides my husband. As far as herpes, I don’t have them and neither does Mr. M so I won’t be spreading them to my kids. I love them and that’s how I show it, I mean they came out of me and I nursed them so a kiss on the lips is not a big deal to me. When they get older I’m sure this won’t be a regular thing anymore so I’ll take it while I can. People need to get over themselves but that’s not gonna happen real quick.
Mel M, I’m not trolling, but genuinely curious: would kissing your child on the forehead or cheek not be just as loving? Or a hug?
I’m from the South and my family never kissed on the lips. Like Locke Lamora, that is reserved for my significant other only. Cheek or forehead for me. lol
@jag- I do kiss them on the cheeks and forehead, and their fingers and toes and bellies and heads. They are my kids and I think they are the cutest things on earth so I kiss them. I made them and they are a part of me, I don’t feel about anyone else in the world the way I feel about them. When I ask my son for a kiss and I give him my cheek he still goes straight for the lips. I don’t make them give me affection though if they say no that’s fine, same with anyone else in our family. I don’t make them hug or kiss anyone. It’s all their choice and at some point they will choose not to want to kiss me anymore and that’s fine, it’s part of growing up. I’m sure I will be sad but right now I don’t care what other people think, I’m going to show affection the way I want to with MY children. As long as it’s innocent and it’s done for the right reasons I think any kind of affection is a lot better for kids then none at all.
Regarding kissing family members, It’s a totally different kind of kiss, lips extended and a kind of smack to it, no big deal. We don’t do it in our family but I see nothing wrong with it at all. I sometimes squeeze my adult son when he’s sitting down followed by a peck on the neck. Who cares. No big deal.
I’m from Missouri originally. My mom kisses us on the lips and i think it’s weird. But thats just my issue! I know logically there’s nothing wrong with it.
Really? Because we live in the same country, I’m a Croatian through and through (ok, with some German, Austrian and Jewish roots) and we kiss each other on the lips in my family. 🙂 My mom does it, my grandma does it. I do it to my son. I don’t get the ick factor, but then again, I don’t get tulle skirts and glitter makeup on young girls, so what do I know? (I mean, I don’t get a lot of things which I see as icky or problematic which parents allow or do with their kids, so who am I to judge).
Ha ha Geekychick, everyone here has Austrian, German, Hungarian or Italian roots. Just had to say 😁
Really? How strange. In my part of Croatia I very very rarely see anyone kiss their family members on the lips. It’s always forehead or cheeks. Are you from the coast maybe? They tend to be more open with those things than we in the inland are.
What do you mean everyone has German amd Italian roots? I don’t think that’s true. We were in the same country ( countries) but we didn’t mix that much.
No, of course not everyone has foreign roots, it was sort of an inside joke for Croatians, on how we were always under someone’s rule so it is not surprising to have Austrian etc. roots 😉 Although I do know a lot of people with Austrian and German roots (not so much Italian since I’m from Zagreb).
I’m from Croatia too and I’m sorry, but kissing your family members on the lips is not common, unless it’s your husband/wife.
I’m ethnically Croatian and I am eeked out by the idea of kissing family (or anyone besides a romantic partner) on the lips. On the cheeks yes, sure, and even men can kiss men on the cheeks without it having any particular meaning besides affection, but kissing family or even children on the lips, no. In fact, I had to put a stop to it with my in-laws. They are pretty much trained now, cheeks, yes, lips, no!
My family has always kissed each other on the lips. I’m 33 years old and it doesn’t matter how old I get it’s a sign of affection. We are also “bear huggers” we embrace our friends and loved one tight because it’s how we show we care. All around the world these 2 things are normal. It’s Americans that have to sexualize everything and show their ignorance. I’ve lost too many people in my life to not give the remaining ones all of my heart.
My entire family kisses on the lips!! Aunts, uncles, grandma, kids. It’s our norm, as well as many people’s norm. Hugs and kisses among family is a sign of affection!!
Wow @Ladybird83, your comment is pretty rude and stereotypical. I’m American and my family kisses on the lips. Aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses of cousins…everyone. I also kiss my daughters on the lips and usually pat their butts after a hug. There are commenters on here from other countries who think it’s weird so I don’t think you can throw this on the “ignorant Americans.” Seems like it varies from family to family.
But you have a lovely day.
Ladybird83 & Minnieder: THANK. YOU! My mother kissed all of her children on the lips, short pauses on the smooching only initiated by each of us during our individual teen years, because – parents, blah blah blah. Fast forward to adulthood, a collective return to our senses, and onward until the day our mother died, lip kissers, the lot of us.
I have a 16 year old daughter, and I have always kissed her on the lips. That’s what we do. She didn’t even know that some people might find it off-putting or weird until a friend of hers said something to her about it after her friend saw my daughter kiss me goodbye when I dropped her off at this friend’s house. I was pulling away from the curb and rolling up the passenger side window when I heard her friend say “dude! You still kiss your mom goodbye? And on the lips? Ew! Why?” I about died when my daughter got super pissed about it and told her “I love my mom, okay? I will always kiss her goodbye. On the lips. Because where else would I kiss her? I still call her Mommy too, you got something to say about that?” (Not gonna lie, I LOVE it that she still calls me Mommy. I hope she always does. But that’s a different tangent and another thread altogether! 🙂
I asked her about it when I picked her up later that day, asked her why she bit her friend’s head off. She told me that she “just gets sick of her friends acting like they’re supposed to hate their parents, and that if they don’t they’re babies.” She told me that her friend apologized to her later and said it was just weird for her (the friend) to see her kiss me goodbye because she and her mother didn’t do that.
To kiss your children on the lips, or not to kiss your children on the lips – neither should ever be a personal indictment of a mother or father’s parenting. To clarify: I’m referring to the comments posted on Hilary’s IG with that last statement – not anyone in this thread. Lest it be perceived that way. 🙂
I think is something cultural. Where I grew up is not a common thing to do. My family is very affectionate but I am glad they didn’t kiss me on the lips because since young I was very introverted and not extremely comfortable with physical proximity.
What is bad is that trolls attacked her actions, is her child and her business.
Yeah, same to me. Like I would never kiss my children, parents, siblings, friends, etc on the mouth. Only my partner/prospective partners.
I’m not judging her, just seems strange from a cultural perspective.
My family might have done it when I was too little to remember, but otherwise, no. Kisses on the lips are only for partners. It weirds me out a little bit to see kids/family members kissing on the lips, but I get that to most folks it’s seen as sweet and not sexual.
I definitely kiss my kids on the lips, but mostly because they go there. I might prefer to avoid the germs. They are 6 and 3. As little toddlers they would basically attempt to French kiss me. My mom kissed me on the lips through high school, and I started getting slightly uncomfortable with it, and zoom for the cheek now.
You’re probably in Europe, like myself. I have never seen anyone kiss their relatives – anyone who isn’t a love interest – on the lips, either. I understand now, and have for a long time, it is a USA custom, but it still looks somehow odd to me.
I don’t understand, however, why American trolls (if they are American) would find it trolling-worthy, since it IS an American habit.
ITA. My ex had aunts who used to kiss us on the lips when they greeted us and i found it pretty gross. In the end i took the initiative and would go straight for their cheeks before they could plant one on my mouth.
I kiss my little one on the lips. Honestly, I’ll take all the kisses I can get from her, because there’s nothing better (to me) than snuggles and hugs and kisses from my daughter. And I’ll hug and kiss her super extra hard today since it’s her 2nd birthday – so yeah, time flies, your kids grow up way too fast, and you should take all the kisses you can get, on the lips or otherwise!
^^ This ^^ times a million. I will give and receive all of the kisses and snuggles I can get while my kids still want to be around me! Happy birthday to your little one. Plant a big smooch right on her lips and give her the biggest hug ever!!!
Yup! I get as many kisses and hugs as I can. They’re little for such a short time.
I don’t have any children of my own, but I have nieces and nephews and my friends’ kids who are the nieces and nephews of my heart. Growing up, my family showed no affection. None at all. While I’ve always known our parents loved us, it does mean that as an adult, I am very awkward at giving and receiving affection with anyone other than my spouse. That being said, with all those nieces and nephews, I let them choose the level of physical affection they are comfortable with. If I get a kiss goodbye and they kiss me on the lips, I’m just as happy with that as I am with a kiss on the cheek. There is absolutely nothing wrong with children expressing their affection in that way. And making them feel like there is something wrong with that IS what’s wrong, as far as I’m concerned.
@Rachel: I’m in a similar boat. My family never showed affection (still doesn’t) and I always craved it when I was growing up. We never even say ‘I love you’ to each other. So, I’m really awkward when friends or my in-laws try to hug me. 🙂 But I’ve made it a point to make sure to be as affectionate as my children want me to be. They are 8, 6 & 4 and they love to be kissed on the lips, cheek, forehead, tummy, wherever, and they all still love to cuddle. I had to brush my teeth one-handed the other morning because my youngest daughter asked me so sweetly if I would hold her hand. It warms my heart that I (and my husband) am their source of love and affection, and that they are comfortable showing us-and each other-too. If down the road they decide that certain types of affection make them uncomfortable that is their right and I’m okay with that, too.
Exactly. And tbh, those who find it icky should turn their head away and shut up. What are they thinking about and in which context if they find simple loving gesture icky? Do you get what I’m saying? If you’re sexualizing a child or a gesture, that’s a sign that you have a problem, not me and my child.
+1
I find it icky from the germ standpoint mostly. But since I grew up in a home where we were kissed on the forehead and cheek – instead of the lips – I associate lip kissing with more intimate affection and it does make me do a double take when I see it happen with people who aren’t coupled.
Right?! Good grief. She gave her own son a snuggle and a kiss! Oh the horror😴 these days you get judged for being an affectionate parent. People are so exhausting
A kiss of the lips icky? That makes me laugh. My kid came out of my vagina and I didn’t bathe her for days. She was smothered in kisses by me and her extended family.
Really? People take time out of their day to troll a woman for kissing her kid on the lips? I suppose I am not surprised. I guess 2016 is just the year of outrage and the year of provocation.
Haha SERIOUSLY!!! Don’t you know it’s outrageous to love on your own child? Extremely offensive, apparently!
I’m so over everyone trying to be the captain of the judgement police – especially something so innocent.
It’s truly exhausting.
That’s such a sweet moment with her and her boy. Sadly though, there will always be trolls. But just think that trolls never got affection like that from their parents. That’s sad.
I remember kissing my little boy (on the lips, as always, where else would you kiss for heaven’s sake?? On the cheek like some repressed 1950s grandmother?), and a little British girl in his kindergarten class asked me, “Why do you always do so much kissing?” It broke my heart to think that she didn’t recognize such a simple gesture of affection as normal.
On the cheeks, on the forhead, on the nose, on the hair, on the bellybutton, on their little hands …. can’t we respect each other’s choices and doing our own thing without insulting each other?
+100000 times what you’ve just said Lena
Yes! I will always kiss my daughter’s hair and her sweet face for as long as she lets me.
Well said, Lena.
If I’m lucky my teenagers will kiss me on my forehead . I made sure that I took a ton of pictures when they were tiny of us giving peaks on the lips. I get that they’re older and it’s not cool anymore . It’s just so important too me that my children know they’re loved and wanted . I tell my kids I love them the first thing in the morning and it’s the last thing I say to them at night.
Obviously those trolls haven’t spent much time around Italian families. Grown men and their fathers still kiss on the lips. It’s a lovely gesture of a close family bond.
Or Arab families (Latino families, Russian families) either, lol. My big Middle Eastern family is so huggy-kissy that it’s funny, and I never found it the least bit gross. Especially between a mom and a child, I can’t believe people would find it inappropriate.
Or Greek ones, lol! It might not be for everyone and I get it, but I see nothing wrong if a mother/father express their affection this way, it’s a sweet gesture.
Not that I am doubting you, but I’ve never ever seen an Italian or “Latino” or Russian family kiss each other on the lips. With Russians it’s usually the traditional three-kiss on the cheeks hug; with Italian or “Latino” families it’s usually just a hug, maybe with a peck on the cheek or the head.
Maybe it’s a custom that AMERICAN Italians/Russians/Latinos have picked up?
I’ve never seen it in Europe or Latin America.
‘Grown men and their fathers still kiss on the lips’
i’m italian and i can assure you that’s not the case lol, where did you hear it?
I grew up in a town that has the most Italians per capita in America, lol. I regularly saw male relatives holding each other’s heads and kissing each other on the lipstick.
I’m Italian American, and my family did it. I’ve seen it from other Italian families too.
must be italian americans then. i grew up in italy until i was 11, my family is italian, and i’ve never seen anyone doing it in my family or others. maybe in the south, most certainly not in the north where i’m from.
Southern US w Irish/Scottish roots. My family does it, even my adult giant brother and my dad.
Yup, Italians do NOT do this. I’m part italian and have never seen this done in Italy.
Italian Americans are another thing entirely. It’s not the same thing.
I’m also latin and I have never seen this. Argentine men do kiss on the cheeks and hug a lot, but the lips/mouth is off limits unless it’s a partner or prospective partner.
Rianic, they don’t do it in Scotland or Ireland though! Travelling must have made them more affectionate! Can I just say though that what does gross me out is people “kissing” their dogs on the mouth. I love dogs, but no. And the dog isn’t kissing you, a dog licking around the mouth is a reflex used by puppies to make the adult regurgitate food.
Duplicate 💋💋💋💋
Let me guess, Nicole Scherzinger thinks this “promotes” incest.
LOL! 🙂
rofl!!!
ha ha ha!
My mom and I were pretty kissy when I was little so it seems like no big deal. Now it’s just pecks on the cheek.
But I’m thirty now and my dad still instinctively tries to hold my hand when we cross a street, haha.
That is the sweetest little tidbit about your dad! It made me smile on a cold, bleak morning.
Oh that is so cute. I can see my hubby doing that, too. Our daughter is a ‘young lady’ now but she’ll still take my hand for a little while in some situations. It just feels nice to have that warm little paw in mine again.
Awwww that’s so sweet! My daughter is one month old and her dad and I shower her with kisses that bring on the biggest sweetest toothless smiles. I hope we are like this when she’s older. I’ll always want to hold her hand! People are so dumb to harass this sweet mama for being 100% normal and natural. I kind of love her response.
Lots of lip kissing in my family, too. All the men kiss each other on the lips. It’s not just the wimlins and the kids.
Celebitchy – Sixlet Major is now taller than me. This is a weird thing. Much more weird than lip kissing, if you ask me. How do you look UP at a person when you’re berating them for the pile of dirty underwear that you’ve found in their room instead of in the laundry bin? Although perhaps the right question is: how is it that a person taller than me still can’t accurately locate the laundry bin?
My Little Darlings aren’t so little anymore, both boys taller than me. However, we are a kissy family, and I can still grab a great hug and plant a kiss on their cheek.
This kind of judgement makes me sad, something to silly being shamed.
It’s just odd to me that anyone would even care about the form of meet’n’greet employed by a particular family, you know? Mine’s always done lip-kissing hello and goodbye and goodnight and whatever. I’ve just got back from the pre-Christmas family tour of visits and all four of us kissed every relative of whatever gender or age on the lips to say hello and on the lips to say goodbye. Is just how we’ve always done it. Nothing remarkable.
Sixer, the way you always write about your family makes me feel irrationally cozy. I’m sure it’s actually all very human and sometimes none too charming, but thinking about an exuberant brood of jam-eating children giggling over their funny mother in a land over the sea is just so freakin’ cute.
It’s more Keystone Cops than Little House on the Prairie to be frank!
Haha! Figures 🙂
Hurrah, Sixer, you’re back! Did I dream it or have you been MIA the last few days? I haven’t seen you in these parts, Squire. I imagined that you had a very important meeting to prepare for and take, that, or you were freezing allotment produce or some such. Am I becoming a creepy stalker? I don’t mean to be, but I miss your pithy, on-point comments when they aren’t around. Particularly when the post involves errant royals, and their laziness, entitlements, and love lives. I don’t know what to believe until you set me a’rights. Nice to see you, to see you, nice!
I just got busy-like! I had a day helping with a Wikipedia effort to get more women written about. Did you know there are 1.4 million biographies on Wikipedia and only 17% of them are about women? There was a thing last week with all sorts of people trying to redress the balance including little old moi and some publishing friends improving the female author articles and adding new ones. I did some volunteering at a food bank as a favour to a friend who couldn’t make her shift. Then I went to London on a pre-Christmas rellies-I-won’t-see-over-the-holidays tour.
Now I’m back!
Wow, Sixer, you have been busy doing such worthy works! Thanks for setting my mind at rest. I didn’t know about the auto/biography figures, a very interesting and revealing fact. That inequity needs to change, there are so many fascinating women in this world of ours. Maybe they just make a bit less of a song and dance about their work than the menfolk. That would be par for the course, women are too busy DOING to be SAYING, in effect. You are very kind to do your friend’s shift at the Food Bank, such an essential resource for the those who have to scrape by, especially at this time of year. It always breaks my heart to hear of the statistics of children who go to bed hungry, especially in the so-called affluent societies. A silent epidemic.
On a fluffy note, us Antipodeans are known for their huggy, kissy, ways. When I first met Mr Antipodean he was quite overwhelmed by it all (well, he IS Scottish), but now I think he quite likes it, and I hug and kiss my daught to bits every time she goes out or comes in, no exceptions. She, in turn, is a hugger and a kisser, and it makes my wizened heart melt, EVERY TIME! I make no apologies. People I love know I love them, end of story.
Is it off of me to say that I enjoyed the food bank? Well, not enjoyed, but I got a lot out of it. Found out loads of stuff I didn’t know and wouldn’t have ever known without doing it. Met some nice people (volunteers and people attending for food alike). I might put myself on the rota, actually. It’s depressing that it’s needed but the actual doing of it didn’t seem depressing at all, you know?
Kissing. Is. A. Good. Thing.
My mum had to live through this with ALL of us. But my brother turned out to be 1.80m and when my mum was telling him off he would keep her away with his arms lol
Major has a line in apologising then smirking and patting me on the head. Then he panics in case I get particularly cross and apologises again with a bit more feeling!
hahaha my brother did the same. Until he saw the Flying Shoe. My mum has excellent aim.
LOL!
It is strange when they are taller than you, isn’t it? I remember the day I realized this had happened to me. I looked up at my daughter and said, “When did you get to be so tall?” to which she replied, “When did you get to be so short?”
Re kissing, lots of it in my family but not on lips except for husband. But if it works for Hilary and her family, that’s totally her business.
I even get a kiss from my best friends two year old on the lips. Her daughter likes to give little kisses to those who are closest to her (mama, papa, baby sister, grandma). I’m honored to be one of them 😉
I kiss my 3 year old daughter on the lips. Will stop when she tells me to. She kisses her father on the lips as well, even more than she kisses me. I kissed my parents on the lips till I was like 12 and then I was like ew I like kissing boys not my parents. But I still religiously kiss my mom on the cheek/forehead and my dad too until he passed. People always have to ruin shit for others.
I wish twitter would shut down altogether. What a hotbed of assholes just looking for a response to the most offensive comment they can think of.
The pic is sweet. My 6 year old son still kisses me before bed.
I don’t come from a kissing family. We’re huggers. The first time I saw it was when a former boyfriend’s mother gave him a quick kiss on the lips after we left their house one evening. It just struck me as strange. Not sexual in any way, just different. I’m pretty picky about what my lips go on, and not knowing his mother’s “history” made me a little uneasy, coupled with the fact that I was going to be kissing those same lips later on. I know it was probably more paranoia that anything, but it still bothered me a little. Is there an age limit to this? Or is it more reserved for kids than adult children?
Ridiculous to judge. I would think it’s weird to see a son and dad shake hands instead of kiss, but it happens.
I’m also “picky about what my lips go on” (odd phrase), but my loved ones are definitely on that list!
I’d seen parent-to-kid kisses before, but that was my first seeing a parent-to-adult kiss. Not judging, just found it strange because it was different than how I was brought up. My little sister grew up with fever blisters and my siblings and I were explicitly told not to kiss, share drinking glasses, etc. because it may spread to us. I’m still picky about my lips, too! I read something the other day about a brand of lip balm causing massive blisters all over people’s lips and faces! And I still won’t drink or eat after people. I will with my fiancé, but that’s it. And some may think my family’s lack of kissing strange. Just different upbringings and that’s okay. 🙂
Yeah, I find it very weird that people find this weird. I mean, if he were 16? Sure. Then, I’d get the outrage. (Even if I’d still find it fairly silly, as some families/cultures are just kiss-ier than others. A peck on the lips is a sign of affection, not attraction.)
I’d say this is a thing MOST little kids do with their parents, and naturally grow out of. It’s not even slightly sexual, and if you think it is, I’d say YOU have the problem, not a mom showing affection to her preschooler.
When my son was two he often kissed me on the mouth, and, now, so does his sister, as she’s the same age. It’s not something we’ve “taught” them, unless you count having them see their father and I kiss goodbye (and I’m talking kiss, not “make out”) “teaching” them. And it’s something I’ve seen most of my friends kids do with them now and again, too.
Now that my oldest is nine, he’ll still kiss me on the cheek daily to say goodbye before school (only in private), but I can see that disappearing soon, too. It’s just a natural stage of growing up. Sob.
“Yeah, I find it very weird that people find this weird. I mean, if he were 16? Sure. Then, I’d get the outrage.”
Absolutely. Like Stephanie Seymour and her son, kissing on the mouth repeatedly on the beach and him having a noticeable erection. THAT was creepy and disturbing. A peck between a little boy and his mom, though? People make me sick with their need to scandalize every little thing.
Ugh Peter is such a spoiled stuck up little shit, he probably over did it on purpose so we’d have a reason to talk about him. He’s also openly gay so I don’t find it sexual.
It says more about the person who saw an innocent photo and though negative thoughts.
People truly have too much time on their hands. If you don’t like it then don’t do it but stop shitting on other people. Find a real damn problem.
Meh. Save the outrage for the parents who kick their children instead.
+1
+ 1,000,000,000!
My sweet one year old gives the sloppiest open mouth kisses. Sometimes he is so drooly I try to go for the cheek instead.
Now, my husband’s uncles ALWAYS go for the lips and that weirds me out a little bit. It always ends up as this awkward thing because I turn my head.
The kid is four, young enough to still let you slather with affection!
At that age I don’t see how it matters whether you are a typically affectionate family or not, again….he is 4 not 44!
People need to find better things to get their collective panties in a wad over.
he’s only little, there’s nothing weird about it.
i am a grandmother and we treasure those babies. When Newtown happened I remember thinking that I didn’t know where those parents found the strength to go on. Then our first born grandchild died and it shredded my heart. Our pain was not only for the loss of that precious child, but witnessing the grief our son and daughter in law went through. And that’s when I learned how to go on after such an unbearable loss I can only say that it was a type of endurance of the heart and soul.. We all hung on to each other and endured. We relied on our faith and each other and endured and went through incredibly painful days and waited for time to soften the pain. And finally, little by little, the grief lessened.
They had another baby and their arms weren’t empty, and we rediscovered joy. But 20 children died at Newtown, and I still am awed by their families and how they endured after such grief and horror. So I agree wholeheartedly with CB; hug your children, kiss them, treasure them. We will always miss our precious two year old, but our love for him goes on, and we are fortunate to have his little sister to adore.
Giddy I am so sorry for your and your family’s loss! I am glad that you could rediscover the joy and wish you and your family all the happiness and I hope that you will be able one day to look back at the precious time you could spend with him and feel joy of having had that time instead of grief.
Those are very sweet pictures.
It’s got to be partly cultural. Those same trollers might have a hard time in China where a lot of grown people hold hands, relatives and friends alike. It looks like lots of same-sex love. : )
Were those trollers equally grossed out by the PEOTUS groping his grown daughter’s behind?
My 9 year old son gave me a good morning kiss on the lips, before he even brushed his teeth. Nothing wrong there.
My 15 year old daughter still does too (but with teeth brushed). I can’t imagine not.
People just like to voice their opinions 🙂
I must be naive as hell because I’m always blown away when people want to flip the f-ck out over other people doing things that they’re unexperienced with/don’t know about. I’m also really over people scandalizing everything. I have never met a single soul who didn’t kiss their children on the mouth, and this “newschool” BS turning everything relating to children into pedophilia is disturbing. The people who are outraged over everything are the ones who are truly disturbed and sick. How could anyone look at a picture of an innocent kiss between a mom and her child and try to turn that into something perverse?
Guess what! Regardless of where you live or what your culture is, there are people in this world who do things differently than you do. If you want to kiss your children on the cheek, go for it. Other people don’t. Get over it.
Aw, hell, that’s a thing in the south, where grown women and men still call their parents Momma and Daddy, LOL. I grew up kissing both parents on the lips, and it was no big deal on either end. I still had to go give my parents a kiss goodnight before I went to bed until I was in…middle school, maybe? Maybe older?
So of course when I had my only child, a daughter, I kissed her on the lips and so did my husband. She voluntarily kissed me on the lips up to the sixth grade (but she was still very child-like at that age–didn’t hit physical puberty until 15, maybe that has something to do with it). She was very affectionate and so am I–with select people.
Nowadays, I kiss my parents on the cheek, but if my mom went in for a lip kiss, I really wouldn’t bat an eye. And I’m 46! They’re just lips, it’s not like anyone is sticking out their tongue.
My 3 yo niece is very affectionate and sweet and gives kisses on the lips but she’s also a prankster and has started giving a second kiss where she sticks her tongue out. Still not weird, it’s hilarious because she’s doing it to gross people out haha.
She also sometimes licks cheeks goodbye because when playing pretend she is usually an animal of some kind (eg if her and her sister play cops then she’s a police dog hehe) and it’s her other version of a kiss.
omg – this is so crazy. my family isn’t particularly affectionate and still kiss on the lips. when i have kids i will kiss their lips off their face. my in-laws are big kissers too and i dare anyone to try to dodge a smack on the lips from my MIL. she will literally hold your face until she can land one on the kisser – it sounds weird as hell but her kookiness is charming.
My MIL did that to me one year and both my SO and SIL looked shocked I rolled with it. I was like meh, my aunt STILL makes me give her a kiss on her pucker and your mom is like my mom to me so….shrug.
“Love all kids, nice people and pets.”
+a million 💜
I avoid kissing my 3 year old boy on the mouth because I’m a smoker but sometimes he gets me off guard and does it, because mom and dad do it. It’s not weird to me i Just don’t like doing it because i smoke.
It’s pretty common in Latin culture. My aunts are all like second moms to me and I have one aunt who once in a while still gives me the pucker like, ‘it’s happening do NOT dodge your tia and give me your cheek, I changed your diapers’. Not with my dad or anything though. A. He’s not from the same culture B. I’m really not close to him. I know it icks some people out but it really depends on the context and culture. The Hillary Duff thing is stupid! Let a mom kiss her kid dammit.
I don’t think it’s ‘gross’, but I do think it’s just asking for unwanted germs(and herpes mentioned above). I have never had a cold sore my entire life. Don’t drink after people. Don’t share lip gloss ever. Hell, I don’t even go to buffets! Lol My little one year old will kiss me on the lips, it’s sweet. I’ll enjoy it while he does it but I wouldn’t think it’s germ appropriate for anyone besides my husband or myself to do. My SIL has her son who is 4 kiss EVERYONE goodbye on the mouth. I hate it. I dodge it. She will have him do this to a room of 40 people at family parties. I won’t let him kiss my baby on the mouth, ever. I’m from the Midwest and we aren’t a kiss on the lips kind of family growing up! I have no problem with her kissing her little boy on the lips. I’m sure he doesn’t do it to everyone and she knows she doesn’t have herpes, I’m sure.
I’ve kissed people on the lips and drank after people my entire 46 years, and I’ve never had a single cold sore.
Good for you? Lol I know people who did it once and started getting cold sores right after.
But like.. so what?
Are you never going to kiss anyone in your life? If so, I feel sad for you.
If not, it might happen. Oh well!
I’m French and we are supposed to be rather ‘touchy’ people, but I have never EVER seen anyone kiss a parent/child on the lips… To be honest, I find it quite uncomfortable to watch :/
But I guess it’s an ordinary thing in a lot of cultures.
I think it’s gross and screams boundary issues.
Honestly, it’s not something we do with our kids, but I don’t really see anything weird about it at all. It doesn’t come off as sexual to me, and I find it a little creepy that some people’s minds immediately go there.
My husband got yelled at by a complete stranger at the mall a few weeks ago because he and our 14 year old daughter were there, and she’s the type of kid who will still hold our hands sometimes (we are not demanding this, she does it herself) while walking around. A lady took issue with it and decided to tell him that he was a pervert, gross, and that she was much too old to be holding his hand. right In front of our kid.
I think it’s sad that you can’t show affection to your kids without worrying about getting judged for being a creeper.
Things we learned today in the comments section: We are all different people who live in different places who have different families with different levels of affection towards each other and therefore we do different things and have different expectations. Great! Next?
As far as herpes goes. I am very careful. My husband and I kiss our children on the lips, but no one else. I say on the cheeks or top of head. I am very strict with this and could careless whom I offend. Some of my relatives (SIL) let anyone kiss their kids on the lips and it grosses me out. I won’t even let my husbands parents kiss our kids on the lips. Cannot be too careful and our kids are cautious as well. They won’t even share their Chapstick due to what they learned about diseases. I read in a nursing book that 1 out of 4 has some herpes virus. Cannot be too careful.
Aren’t you just making your kids scared of physical affection from others? They’re going to kiss people growing up. They probably already have!
More than 1/4 have some sort of herpes virus. The world isn’t crashing down around them!
Hilary didn’t need to respond? Of course she did lol any momma bear would. It’s not like some critic put her on a bad dressed list. Good for her telling the trash off!
Um. He’s four not forty and it’s his mom. They aren’t swapping spit, it’s a peck on the lips. Geez. I still kiss my little nephew (he’s five) on the lips because he thinks it neat and that’s how he likes. The little kid is smart enough to only do it with family. I don’t with his older brother (he’s 10) cause he’s too cool for school. Nothing wrong with kissing children provided you are the parent and / or related and the parent doesn’t mind. As the child gets older you should let them lead and do what they are comfortable with.
Only a pervert would turn it into something sexual.
I see NOTHING wrong with kissing your baby on the lips! some people are mouth kissers, some aren’t! don’t be judge-y!
I’ve seen mothers with open cold sores kiss their babies on the lips and that horrifies me. For MOST people herpes isn’t a big deal but for some people it can cause systemic infections that can and do kill. I only kiss my SO on the lips and neither of us have ever had a cold sore, thankfully. I think it’s a bit weird to kiss family on the lips but I don’t judge people who do as long as they’re not doing it with open cold sores.
Gross. I don’t get why a parent would kiss their kid on the mouth…You presumably give your partner oral sex with that mouth. Not to mention the germs you can pass back and forth.