When kids cry, it’s nails against the chalkboard to my ears. Of course, when it came to my kid, I try to understand. When K1 was 6, I dug deep not to tell him to stop crying. Since they say reverse psychology works on children, I intended to make him see how pointless crying was and ready with a see-it-doesn’t-change-anything response.

“K1, why are you crying?”
“Cause it makes me feel better”

I was stumped and I knew the best thing to do was hug him. But I could not and did the best I could.

“Fair enough. Okay, carry-on”

Fast forward to K2 who likes to snuggle, especially during movies. I’ve gotten to the point she can lean her head on my shoulder. Then there’s figuring out the hugging aquantainces game (excluding family & friends). How many times do you have to meet a person before it becomes rude not to hug them when they lean in for one? Then there’s a whole other set of rules for hugging males when you’re in a relationship. T pointed out an aquantaince of ours hung in on a hug too long (all hugs are too long to me!) and rubbed my back at the same time. T explained to me the difference between a rub and a pat during hugs. Shew! Too much work so the next time I saw this gentleman, I tried to stand as far away while chatting with him as possible to avoid the hug initiation. It felt like an awkward dance… every step he took forward and I took a step back. Good grief, Charlie Brown!

When my cousins from France visited (recently), I was reminded they do cheek to cheek “bisons” instead of hugs. I got into the rhymn pretty quickly & naturally during their two week stay. When it comes to greetings & good-byes, the French is definitely more of my tribe!