Kiss Kiss

Kisses abound in our household these days. Lillian is kissing her dollies, her bunny, her mittens, her toothbrush, her hairbrush, her sister, and of course, her parents. Breanna is kissing her food before she eats it (every bite), her socks, her dad's socks, her bath toys, her sister, and of course, her parents.

DH and I have been encouraging it, so I guess since we've brought it on, kisses now rain down. We encourage pecks between people. But to clarify, we don't kiss things that can't kiss back. Just one another - on the lips. No tongues. No teeth. No slop. Just pecks. (In front of the kiddos, anyway.)

On Sunday, the girls and I drove out to our new house where DH was working to see if he needed some lunch. Our new small town is so teeny that the only place to eat are a bar/grill and the gas station (which has a miniature selection of Snickers, Combos, and Little Debbie cakes).

As we drove out there, DH called to let me know his folks just "popped in." So we all visited a bit at the job site and then headed to the bar/grill, which was closed. Oh well. My in-laws decided to go along their merry way. As DH hugged them goodbye, he accidentally surprised his mom with a kiss on the lips. They both jumped back and I secretly cracked up! He quickly stuttered something about only kissing his wife lately and was just in automatic mode. I smile even as I write about it.

Might not sound funny if you don't know my in-laws. But they're not exactly huggy, kissy people. "I love you" is not a common phrase in their house. They're not cold or mean or anything, just not openly affectionate. In fact, after DH's first visit to my parents' house, he told me how strange and wonderful it was that both my parents hugged both of us hello and goodbye and goodnight before bed.

The next time we saw his parents, he got on their cases a little about never giving hugs or talking about loving out loud. When they left our house that day, they each gave us a very awkward hug, and have started giving more hugs ever since. They're still quite different from my family's, but I do appreciate their efforts. As long as we don't have to extend the kissing lessons further than our girls, all will be good.