forced to give a kiss bye to someone.....eghh...

The kissing thing shouldn't be forced because I said too how would we like to be forced to kiss all these people whenever we sid good-bye. It would be uncomfortable for me. I don't care for that when it comes to simple aquaintences and casual friends. If I don't like it then why should my kid have to do it. The please and thank you thing you are completely right about though. Those a siomple manners that any child should be taught. The kissing thing though doesn't have to do with manners as far as I'm concerned it's not bad manners to not kiss someone.

That's the same way I feel dragon, but I don't think I could've worded it as well as you have. I do the same thing and tell little kids, they don't have to if they don't want to and let it go at that. Even with my grand daughter, she's two and if she don't want to give a kiss or hug to me, those are her own feelings and I don't think I have the right to try to force the issue. My older two kids, when they were really young,(around 2 & 3yrs old) had a relative that they didn't want to give a hug or kiss to and I would tell them they had to give that person a hug, after a couple times, I told their dad I didn't think they needed to go through it and if it was going to be traumatic for them, I wasn't forcing it. Later come to find out it was a relative I didn't want the kids to be around at all, let alone give a hug or kiss to.....I come to believe that little kids and animals are the best judge of character and to trust their instincts more than my own.

I forgot--any time a parent tries to force a child to kiss or hug me, I tell the child to never kiss or hug anyone they don't want to because they have power over their own feelings. The moms get mad at me--but 75% of the time, the child smiles and hugs or kisses me. I like to think I've planted a seed of independence and self control.

Yeah, I agree, please, thank you and bless you are one thing.....I always figure there's a reason they don't want to give kisses or hugs, whether it's bad breath or something else. I always figure that little kids and animals are the best judge of character and there's a reason the kids & animals don't like someone.

That's a very good insight! I like the way you put it, "I think we better teach them first and wait until how they would apply what we taught" ....Nice Answer!

I wonder how that affects the mind of the kid, too. I've seen parents walk the kids to someone and hold them, making them give someone a kiss or hug while the poor kid kicks and screams and yells no.....I feel bad for the kid and not the adult that doesn't get the affection.

Wow, Checkmail, I'm glad to have your input on this. Out of curiosity, do you remember at all why you hit someone or ever heard anything negative later about the person you hit? My grand daughter was in the dept store with me and a sweet little old lady came up to us, wanting to hold her hand while talking to her and tried giving her a kiss on the cheek, when my grandbaby pulled her hand back, turned her head and yelled no really loud. Usually she's a little sweetheart and gives kisses and hugs but for whatever reason she didn't want this woman holding her hand or leaning in for a kiss. (maybe she was feeling my vibe!! I didn't like a stranger trying to touch her and thank goodness for antibacterial wipes!

I give hugs alot and cheeky kisses, but if your little one cried, screamed and kicked to get away from someone, when it doesn't bother them to give kisses and hugs to anyone else, would it make you wonder why they acted like that and give him the freedom to choose what he would rather do?

That's funny! I've actually seen little kids do that before! My nephew used to give wet slobbery kisses and I would try to wipe them off without him seeing me. (we're 12 yrs apart, so I was still a kid at the time, myself) and one day he caught me wiping it off and started to get upset.....I told him I wasn't wiping it off!! I was rubbing it IN!! He has little ones of his own and when they get/give kisses, they wipe their cheek and say they're not wiping it off, they're rubbing it in!! lol..

You're right, they could get sick that way and I think the kiss should be optional, too.

yeah, but should the kids be forced to give a kiss or hug to someone that they don't want to? I mean, if you were being forced to kiss someone that you thought was repulsive, what would you do?