Kissing Your Kids, So What’s the Issue?

I don’t think in the past three and a half years of being a parent I have missed a day of kissing my kids (unless I’ve been out of town). What is all the ruckus about when celebrities are caught kissing their children? Is it because it’s on the mouth? How else should you do it?

Before becoming a parent I would kiss my niece and nephew all the time—on the cheek. That would have been weird if I kissed them on the mouth, but I wanted to show them that I loved and cared for them. But once I had my own kids that changed.

The moment I saw both my little ones all I wanted to do was kiss them. The word kiss means, “touch with the lips as a sign of love.” Pretty sure I love my kids and wanted them to know it from the very beginning. So lets define the types are kissing we are talking here:

Kissing Your Kids, So What’s the Issue? by The Modern DadThe Cheek Kiss – This is a closed mouth kiss on someone’s cheeks. This kiss is often used as a greeting with a kiss on each cheek. It is a friendly sign of affection for anyone you know and love.

Kissing Your Kids, So What’s the Issue? by The Modern DadThe Peck – The peck is a short tight lipped kiss on the lips or cheeks. Used as an expression of friendship. A way of showing your love.

I honestly don’t see anything wrong with either one of those with your children. Then maybe the problem people having with kissing your kids on the mouth is their age? At what age should you stop? I would say, there has to be an age when it stops, but you never stop loving them. So I guess it’s hard to put a actual time stop on that.

Why does it matter? Honestly, I don’t understand some of the things that people get so bent out of shape over. Two celebrates, Hillary Duff and Victoria Beckham, were seen kissing their kids on the lips. It’s not like the time Angelina Jolie and her brother were full on going at it. I just think it’s funny that the people that probably tore these women apart are the same women saying spread love not hate. It’s crazy!

What about this though—is it okay for dads to kiss their kids on the mouth? Or does that change everything? We keep seeing celebrity moms caught kissing their kids, but have you seen a dad do it?

As for when do you stop? I will never stop kissing my kids. Now lets say my son or daughter are seven, I kiss them goodbye and that’s it. They go to school and at the end of they day they try to kiss their friends goodbye, is that okay? Probably not. But we teach our kids that kissing is an act of love. I love my kids, therefore I will kiss them.

Kissing Your Kids, So What’s the Issue? by The Modern DadAlso, here is the answer to what it means when Mommy and Daddy kiss and then Daddy and daughter kiss:  Daddy loves Mommy.  Daddy loves daughter.  If Daddy is making out with Mommy like Rizzo and Kenickie in the backseat of the car at the drive in, I am hoping the daughter doesn’t get the same kind of kiss.  Thus it is even clearer.  Daddy and Mommy kiss like grownups, and Daddy and daughter kiss like family.

At the end of the say, if you freak out at me because you see me kissing my kid you have bigger issues to worry about. And If you’re not into kissing your kids on the mouth, that’s fine too. I think it’s important that we are showing our kids we love them through hugs or kisses.