My husband is known to wear a beard or goatee now and again and as a result, my kids are leery of kissing his scratchy face.  My daughter gets around this by smooching his nose, or occasionally his forehead.  My son on the other hand, flat out refuses to kiss my husband.  He kisses everyone else, sometimes even the dog…Just not daddy.  Luckily Daddy isn’t too insulted, but keeps on asking for his night time kiss just the same. 

Last night, in our bedtime ritual our son decided that not only was kissing daddy out of the question but so was kissing mommy!  Instead, he grabbed our heads and forced them together.  His intent was that we kiss each other, but mostly resulted in us banging our heads together.  Once we discovered what it was that he wanted we went ahead and gave him a smooch show.  Oh the giggles!  This got me thinking about how important it is for little kids to see moms and dads being affectionate with each other.  Boys learn how to treat girls, and girls learn what to expect from men by watching their mom and dad’s. 

It made my son so happy to see us kiss that it has now become a little routine every time he sees us together.  So, don’t be shy to hold hands, hug, and kiss in front of your kids.  You are doing them more good than you can imagine.  A little snuggle and a giggle can’t hurt either.  Show your kids how much you cherish your spouse, and show them how much you cherish them too.  And don’t panic if you are a single parent.  You can still show your kids how to love others; it just might be in a different way.

-Stephanie Wright