When your at a family gathering

[MataHari22]

I'm from a NYC Italian family, they always kissed and hugged saying hello and goodbye. They made me do it as a kid and I always hated it, because I'm not a person that wants to be kissed or hugged unless you are my boy friend/husband, or we are very close. I especially do not want to be hugged and kissed by people since I've gotten so sick and my immune system sucks. I pretty much stand my ground these days and just hug and kiss a select few people.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My family isn't the biggest on hugging. Sure we do it from time to time but usually it's a "see ya next time at X event".

My husband's family are extreme huggers. His mom..well she hugs us before we leave EVERYTIME we see her..go to dinner..you get a hug before you leave..EVERYTIME.

My husband's dad hugs a lot too but isn't quite so every single time like my husband's mom.

I got used to it pretty quick and figured it's just the way they are..now if they were kissers..I'm sorry I would have to decline on that.

 

[DawnM]

Lots of hugging, some kissing on the cheek. One uncle hugs so hard my shoulders hurt afterwards. I know he means well, but, OUCH!

 

[Pooh67_68]

do they kiss each other, as a greeting ?

no, dont touch me, and definitely dont kiss me

Only kiss each other when we are leaving.

(kiss for you)

 

[Kitty 34]

We're huggers at our extended family gatherings. But when my sons and wives come in from out of town I hug and kiss!

 

[Keli]

I guess I've never thought about it much but when we walk in I'm usually carrying a lot of food so I can't hug anyone. After I've been there a few minutes I usually hug my nieces and nephews (no kissing though). When we are leaving a family event then we all hug each other, adults, kids, everyone. Still no kissing though. Except my grandkids, they are all still young (3, 2, and 3 months) so they haven't fussed yet about my kissing their cheeks every single time I see them. If it becomes an issue I'll stop but I will be very happy if they let me kiss on them until the day I die, lol.

 

[RedAngie]

Hugging more than kissing. A few relatives make a big production of it.

 

[lovin'fl]

Nope...none.

 

[Micca]

I'm the guy bringing the booze so everyone wants to slap me on the back and help get the beer in the fridge ASAP. There are goodbye hugs and hearty handshakes, but no kissing (except for the DGDs.)

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

do they kiss each other, as a greeting ?

no, dont touch me, and definitely dont kiss me

Same. I absolutely detest being hugged and kissed by anyone but my own husband and kids. Really, why all the touching and kissy germ spreading?

 

[PlutoGirl1117]

Yes! Big Italian family over here. Arriving and leaving, hugs and kisses. My husband's side it would be an occasional hug, but now? Well, I think they have been around my side to long! Hug, kiss, both arriving and leaving! It doesn't bother me as I grew up with it, and so have my kids. It is what it is!

 

[Diznygrl]

Hugging...maybe a little. Mostly from the younger generation. But kissing? Never!! It kind of makes me giggle a little (but also cringe) picturing my family going all kissy on each other.

 

[wenrob]

Oh yeah, we're a huggy, kissy bunch. DH's family not so much. I hugged my MIL once in a moment of spontaneity and she went stiff as a board. At first he tried to hide, then he just "submitted" and now he's a full participation hugger. I put the kabosh on kisses other than the forehead once my kids hit grade school though for everyone's health.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Everyone gets hugs and the kids get hugs and kisses. The kisses tend to stop once you reach the teenage years.

 

[YoYoAurora]

On my side of the family, yes, although it's generally the very young and the much older folks who give kisses. My family, on Mom's side and on Dad's side, have always been big huggers.

DH's family aren't huggers, so it's usually the nieces who give hugs. I'm the oddball, so I give them all hugs. And then the hugging starts amongst the rest of them.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Kiss on the cheek when you say hi and when you say bye. To everyone.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

My side, quick hugs, but if you don't even do that, it's not a big deal. Sometimes the hug is so fast there isn't even contact other than one half of an arm. Arm up, a quick lurch forward, and done. It's the thought of the gesture that counts for us!

DH's side, hugs and kisses,and they get offended if you try to avoid it. And they are long-ish drawn out hugs that involve bodily contact and often backpatting/rubbing. I mostly just stand there until they are done and then back away fast.

And some of the women make it a point to slather on the most disgusting shades of lipstick then plant one right on your cheek or (for the kids, their forehead) like it's a stamp of approval or something. It's gross and disgusting, and I won't even go near them and tell my kids not to let them kiss them either. If they do, I make a big deal about wiping it all off right in front of the kisser.

So gross.

PSA: if anyone on this board does the lipstick kiss thing and thinks its funny because the people you do it to smile or whatever when you do it, STOP. They really hate it and don't want you anywhere near them, but don't want to make a big deal out of it. If you must kiss someone while wearing lipstick, do an air kiss. NOBODY wants someone else's disgusting, slimy wet lipstick all over their face!

 

[Marchand63]

Huggers on my side of the family, his side not much. The only people I kiss hello or goodbye are the people I gave birth too, the people who gave birth to me & the one I kiss daily. Oh and the people who the people I gave birth give birth too - DGDs.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

My ex's family all kiss and hug, they're very touchy-feely, to the point that it makes me uncomfortable and it always has; through 15 years of marriage I dreaded gatherings with his family. They still hug and kiss me, even though we're separated.

My family is hands-off, no touching, no overly personal questions, and you'll rarely pry any genuine words of praise from one of us--we keep it distant and polite in social situations--but I consider us to be more close-knit than my ex's family of huggers and kissers. If Aunt Sue needs her deck stained we're all there; cousin Bill and his wife are moving we all show up to help pack and clean; we all mow lawns and shovel snow for the older extended family. We demonstrate our love through service.

 

[PigletsPal2]

My generation is the old-timers group in our family, and my sisters and I hug and kind of "air-kiss" - we're cheek to cheek and make kissy sounds. We all four do the same thing to each other's spouse and children and if we have them, grands and great-grands. The cousins also hug and air-kiss each other. We're all very close and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we lived so far apart for so many years after we married and left home. Sis#1 and Sis#3 stayed pretty close together, but Sis#2 joined the Navy, married a sailor and followed him from port to port, and I joined DH in the Foreign Service and we lived overseas for 17 years. The times we all got together were few and far between, so we were all happy to see each other. The same applies now, except Sis#2 Sis#3 live together in Maryland and Sis#1 lives in West Virginia. I'm still the far-away one, living in Florida.

DH's family is not much into hugging and kissing, except my two sisters-in-law and I do it. The distance is one factor in our actions, but we were friends long before DH and I became a couple, so our affection is multi-layered. My MIL is 87 years old, and I can still feel her body stiffen when I attempt to hug her (which I don't do often). She's loosened up a little over the years, but DH and I have been a couple for 54 years and she said "I love you" to me for the first time last summer.

Queen Colleen